First time since nationwide lockdown, Kerala sees no new Covid-19 case

For the first time since the nationwide lockdown that began on March 24, not a single Covid-19 case has been reported on Friday, said Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

For the first time since the nationwide lockdown that began on March 24, not a single Covid-19 case has been reported on Friday, said Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In his Facebook post, the CM said although it is a big relief, the state will continue its vigil in coming days.

In his Facebook post, the CM said although it is a big relief, the state will continue its vigil in coming days. (AP photo)

Though two districts, Kannur in north Kerala and Kottayam in central Kerala, are in red zone, the state has been showing a steady progress in last few days. On Thursday, it had reported only two cases. The CM Vijayan said out of 497 positive cases, 392 were discharged, leaving 102 people in the hospitals still recovering. The state had reported four deaths, but it is yet to include the death of a man from Mahe in the state list. Mahe falls between Kannur and Kozhikode districts, and is part of Pondicherry.

The number of people under observation also came down to 21,499. “It is a good for day for the state. Besides reporting zero cases nine persons have discharged from the hospital. We hope things will improve in coming days. But it is too early to lower our guard,” said state health minister K K Shailaja.

State chief secretary Tom Jose earlier in the day said the state has no plan to resume public transport. “We will go only step by step. The state’s progress is not permanent as of now. It can change any day. We have no plan to start public transport. We will go by a staggered opening,” he said.

Kerala was the first state in the country to report a coronavirus case in January last, who was a China-returned medical student. Cases increased in March first week when people started returning from middle-eastern countries and Europe. At one point , the state was leading in cases but after Nizamuddin conference imbroglio, numbers in other states shot up. In terms of mortality and recovery rates, the state is showing a good progress, statistics tell. But its fingers are crossed as more than 2 lakh immigrant people from the state are expected to return after May 3.