E-Paper
10 locals involved in Kozhikode air crash rescue test positive for Covid-19
Around 80 of the locals who took part in the rescue operations in the Kozhikode air crash, were already under quarantine after some of the injured passengers tested positive for Covid-19.
Ten people who helped rescue passengers from an Air India Express flight from Dubai that crashed at the Kozhikode international airport on August 7 tested positive for Covid-19 on Tuesday when Kerala saw the highest single-day spike of 1,758 new cases, officials said.
Around 80 of the locals who took part in the rescue operations, were already under quarantine after some of the injured passengers tested positive for Covid-19. Last week the Malappuram district collector, police superintendent and 23 senior officials tested positive for the virus. Later, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan and seven of his cabinet colleagues had gone into quarantine because they interacted closely with district officials during their visit to the crash site.
Civil aviation minister Hardeep Singh Puri had lauded the timely intervention of the local people who took more than half of the 190 passengers to hospitals.
Tuesday’s spike of 1,758 cases took Kerala’s Covid-19 tally to 47,827 while six more casualties took the death toll to 176.
Amid rising cases, the Kerala government has decided to strengthen surveillance but many experts said the state has to concentrate more on mitigation now. It also tweaked its test protocol and decided to conduct more antigen tests and limit RT-PCR tests.
RT-PCR tests will now be done for patients with severe respiratory problems or people coming from containment zones.in other states or countries.
