Covid-19 surge continues to rage in Kerala, TPR at 15.11%

Kerala on Sunday reported 18,582 fresh Covid-19 cases with a high test positivity rate (TPR) of 15

Kerala on Sunday reported 18,582 fresh Covid-19 cases with a high test positivity rate (TPR) of 15.11% after 122, 970 samples were tested, said the state health ministry.

Amid high cases the recovery rate however surpassed fresh cases in last five days. On Sunday, 20,089 people recovered. Experts said this is a good sign. (PTI)

Amid high cases the recovery rate however surpassed fresh cases in last five days. On Sunday, 20,089 people recovered. Experts said this is a good sign.

“The government and people should be very careful during the Onam festivities. Another spike will land the state in a difficult situation,” warned internal medicine expert Dr NM Arun, who has been following the case trajectory closely.

The state also reported 102 deaths and with this toll has gone up to 18,601. Four districts reported more than 2000 cases -- Malappuram 2681, Thrissur 2423, Kozhikode 2368 and Ernakulam 2161 cases.

Active caseload is 1,78, 630, statistics show. The ICU occupancy in both private and government hospitals in the state is 2011 and the number of people on ventilators is 790. Hospitalisation of those who are with moderate or severe infections stands stabilised at 28,290. Among total hospitalisations, daily admission is between 10 and 15 per cent. Recovery is also stable so many hospitals are not flooded, health ministry records show.

Meanwhile, the state administered around 500,000 vaccines for the second consecutive day. So far it administered 2,39,22,416 doses -- 1,72,66,344 people have govt first dose and 66,56,082 both doses till Saturday). The state has launched a campaign on Saturday to cover all people above 60 years at least one dose of the vaccine.

According to the last sero survey, at least 45% of population are not exposed to antibodies and susceptible to infection. Union health minister M Mandaviya is reaching the state on Monday to review the situation. Minister of state for external affairs V Muraleedharan said the state’s high caseload is a serious concern for the union government. “The state is paying price for ignoring repeated warnings of the union government. We have been insisting institutional quarantine from the beginning itself. But the government opted for home quarantine but records show it flopped,” said the minister. The state is reporting more than 60% of the daily cases of the country for almost a month.

The central team which visited eight worst-affected districts in the first week of August also flagged the state over lax home quarantine. It found serious flaws in protocols in home isolation. In districts like Malappuram and Kozhikode family size is big and infected easily passes the virus to other inmates.

Though home isolation calls for strict procedure like infected should have a separate washroom and nobody should be allowed to enter the quarantined room but the team found that these measures were never met. This led to increased transmission within homes and formation of small clusters. Fearing another spike the government has tightened restrictions during the ongoing Onam festivities; mass gatherings, public meeting, community feasts and other functions were banned.