Study reveals 35% of COVID-19 cases transmitted within homes: Kerala Health Minister

Kerala is going through a fresh surge in COVID-19 cases with contributing more than 50% of the daily cases in the country. Only a day ago, the number of new COVID-19 cases jumped nearly 30% to over 31,000. The state government blamed the Onam festival for this jump and termed it the 'Onam spike'. 

Meanwhile, on Thursday Kerala Health Minister Veena George said that the latest statistics show that the COVID-19 virus transmission within homes is increasing in the state. A study conducted by the department of health showed that 35% of cases were transmitted within homes, a press release said.

"When a person in the house gets infected, it is transmitted to everyone in the house. This is because the home quarantine guidelines are not strictly followed. Only those who have required facilities at home can prefer home quarantine, others should shift to domiciliary COVID care centers (DCC)," said Veena George in a press release.

The people of the state have been asked to strictly follow the instructions of the health department. The Health Minister also released a set of directions that should be followed by the people to avoid the spread of the virus.

According to the health bulletin issued by the state department, Kerala reported 30,007 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, accounting for 58% of the total cases reported in India.

Guidelines to follow

As per the guidelines, people in home quarantine have been asked not to step out of their rooms.

If there is a COVID-19 patient at home everyone in the house should wear a mask. 

No one else should use the utensils or articles used by the patient who is COVID-19 positive.

Everyone in the house should wash their hands frequently with soap to avoid transmission of the virus.

Kerala COVID-19 data

As many as 18,997 people recovered from the disease while 162 deaths in the last 24 hours.

The active cases have climbed to 1,81,209 while the death toll has mounted 20,134.

The test positivity rate in the state stands at 18.03% as 1,66,397 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.