The famous houseboats of Kerala in the state’s backwaters are set to be converted into isolation wards to tackle the COVID-19 outbreak. M Anjana, District Collector, Alappuzha said, “Though our numbers are comparatively less, we need to augment our isolation facilities. We have a sufficient number of facilities but in the process of augmenting the facilities, we have had extensive discussions with the houseboat owners. All the houseboat owners agree with the proposal and are willing to support the district administration in this respect." Work is underway to create 1500-2000 isolation wards in houseboats by the Alappuzha administration. The number of confirmed cases in Kerala has reached 388 with three deaths being reported. The number of confirmed cases in India has reached 12380 with 414 deaths.