Kochi, March 20 (IANS): Five British tourists who were under quarantine at a hospital here on Friday turned positive for Covid-19, said a state Minister.

With this the total number of positive cases has touched 30.

"These 5 positive patients all aged over 60 include one woman. They were part of a 19-member tourist group from the UK. They were under isolation at Munnar, but they tried to fly out of the airport last Sunday, but were stopped by the authorities," said state Minister for Agriculture V.S. Sunil Kumar.

This group had arrived in the state on March 2 and reached the popular destination at Munnar on March 7 and from March 10, they were asked to remain in observation at a state-owned resort, after one tourist developed symptoms.

The group was then asked to remain in isolation as the second test result of one of them was awaited.

But the entire group broke all the protocols and headed for the Cochin airport and they were picked up by health authorities and kept in isolation.

"One person in the group had tested positive last week, his wife and 12 others are now cleared and are negative... The condition of all those who are positive is stable," said Sunil Kumar.