Covid-19 latest: Kerala sees biggest single-day spike, CM cautions against lowering guard

Kerala CM said he didn’t agree with Rahul Gandhi’s claim that the lockdown had failed its purpose but he also didn’t spare the centre by alleging it didn’t intervene adequately to help states during the lockdown.

Kerala on Tuesday reported 67 coronavirus cases, the highest in a single day since the outbreak in January resulting in the chief minister sounding a note of caution against the lowering of guard and easing of surveillance at this critical juncture as it may lead to community transmission of the disease.

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state should not lower its guard at this crucial juncture when cases are rising in the state. (PTI Phooto)

Among the new cases, 27 are foreign returnees, 30 are arrivals from other states and 10 were people who contracted the disease within the state from the infected, said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

He added that Palakkad district had reported 29 cases on Tuesday-- the maximum in the state. Out of Kerala’s total 963 Covid-19 cases, 415 are active. The number of persons under observation has risen to over one lakh while 7 people have died due to the disease.

When asked about Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s observation that lockdown has failed to serve its purpose, the CM said he did not agree with it.

“I feel lockdown helped to contain the spread. Even before the Centre imposed it, Kerala started implementing it. So we can’t blame the lockdown,” he said.

Talking to newsmen earlier in the day, Gandhi said the two-month-long lockdown failed to serve its purpose as cases spiked in this period. He also asked the Modi government to spell out its ‘Plan B’ to handle the crisis.

Vijayan said he agreed that the centre did not intervene effectively to address lockdown-induced problems.

“I agree with the Centre’s intervention to lessen the woes of the lockdown affected people, was inadequate. States were not heard properly and compensated,” Vijayan said.

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The CM also criticised railway minister Piyush Goyal’s statement that the state was not keen on bringing back its people stranded in other parts of the country.

“You can’t send trains without informing the state. We had a couple of such experiences. This will sabotage our preparedness. Such a statement was least expected from a union minister,” Vijayan said, adding people of the state knew him well and he did not want a certificate in this regard.