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3 Tablighi Jamaat members among 11 new Covid-19 cases in Kerala
Kerala health minister K K Shailaja said the steady fall in the number of positive cases is a testimony to the state’s efforts to flatten the coronavirus curve.
Three Tablighi Jamaat members are among 11 who tested positive for coronavirus in Kerala on Saturday taking the total number of infections in the state to 306, health minister K K Shailaja said.
Among the 11 new cases, six are from north Kerala’s Kasaragod, a pandemic hotspot in the state.
The total number of people under observation has risen to 1,71,355. At least 9,744 tests have been conducted and 42 Covid-19 patients have been discharged from hospitals since the outbreak began, said the minister.
She said the steady fall in the number of positive cases is a testimony to the state’s efforts to flatten the coronavirus curve.
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Amid growing concern over the spread of coronavirus following the Tablighi Jamaat event in Delhi last month, there was some good news on Saturday when 75 people in Pathanamthitta including five who returned from Nizamuddin tested negative.
Reshma Mohandas, a nurse in Kottayam medical college hospital who was discharged from the hospital on Friday said she will come back to the corona ward after 14-day extended quarantine. She contracted the disease while treating a 93-year-old man and his 80-plus wife, both were discharged on Friday. Their recovery was hailed as a miracle in the medical world.
“The state’s performance in containing the pandemic is appreciable but we have to realise the gravity of the situation and there is no room for any complacency. We will continue our fight with all our strength,” Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a statement.
The fall in number of positive cases was a testimony to the state’s efforts, he said.
The CM will take part in a video interaction with selected expatriates in West Asia on Sunday. The state has a strong expatriate population (28 lakh) and 70% of them are in the Persian Gulf countries.
“Once we start rapid testing we will get results immediately. Volume of tests will also go up considerably. This will help us checking a possible community spread,” said the CM adding the state’s surveillance and vigil have helped it to contain the virus to an extent.
He reiterated that there was no need to panic over those who participated in the Nizamuddin congregation because their numbers are not too big. The state government has so far traced 157 of them , eight of whom have been tested positive and others are under quarantine.
Meanwhile the state police have decided to publish photographs and other details of persons who shoot fake messages and upload them on social media to create panic and tension. Kerala police have booked more than 500 people in this regard since the lockdown began. Last week there was a big unrest among migrant workers in Kottayam district who hit the street in large numbers seeking to return to their home in different states. Police later arrested five persons for instigating them.
