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Battle only half won says CM, as Kerala completes 6 months since detection of 1st Covid-19 case
With the state completing six months today since the first coronavirus case was reported, statistics show it has managed the pandemic well with the lowest mortality and highest recovery rates in the country despite pitfalls like low testing rates.
On January 30, when a China-returned medical student tested positive for coronavirus, the first in the country, Kerala was literally in the dark without a single testing lab and bare minimum facilities but it rose to the occasion by chalking out its own protocol to fight the Covid-19 pandemic, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday.
With the state completing six months today since the first coronavirus case was reported, statistics show it has managed the pandemic well with the lowest mortality and highest recovery rates in the country despite pitfalls like low testing rates.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has dedicated this ‘achievement’ to good planning of the government and the hard work of health officials and asked people to continue the vigil as the battle has only been half won.
“The state’s mortality rate in 0.3 per cent whereas the national average is 2.21 per cent. With good planning and vigil we have contained the spread to an extent. In 6 months our total cases are 22,302 but in some states this is the daily number,” said the CM. He said the state had formulated its disease-control protocol even before the Indian Council of Medical Research formulated its guidelines.
He added there were many attempts to “belittle the state’s track record and portray its achievements in bad light” but the government continued its work without any distraction and results are there to see. “Our effective management and planning have helped contain the spread. Our contract tracing method and route maps of the infected were the first in the country,” said the CM.
However, the opposition accused the state of fudging data to maintain its records. “The CM is taking credit for everything including people’s general awareness and the state’s grassroot health system. Many deaths fail to appear in the government’s list these days. And its testing rates are the lowest in the country, 212 in 10 lakh population,” opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said.
Kerala has reported 506 fresh cases today taking the total to 22,302. Out of this, active cases are 10,060 and 12,618 patients have recovered. With two more casualties, the death toll has gone up to 72 in the state.
