Go for ‘self lockdown’, says Pinarayi Vijayan as Covid cases shatter record

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has been reluctant to order a lockdown in districts that have a test positivity rate of more than 15% as mandated by the Centre

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday asked people to go into what he described as a ‘self lockdown’ as the state’s Covid -19 graph shattered records with 38,600 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours. Kerala has a high positivity rate of 24.5%, the chief minister said, urging people to realise the gravity of the situation and prepare themselves to help contain the surge.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan asked people to avoid stepping out and told them to wear a double mask if they have to go to markets (AP)

“The situation is really serious. People will have to get into self-lockdown to contain the surge. We have requested all who visit marketplaces to wear double masks. There is no room for any complacency now,” he said, announcing new restrictions that will come into force from May 4, after the weekend lockdown. The new restrictions will remain in force till May 9.

The chief minister has been reluctant to order a lockdown in districts that have a test positivity rate of more than 15% as mandated by the Centre. “Lockdown should be the last resort. But we are not able to control the spread of the virus. Though people are cooperating in many places, there are reports of Covid guidelines being flouted from some areas,” he said as Kerala reported more than 30,000 cases for the third consecutive day.

Vijayan said the state’s test positivity rate - the percentage of people who tested positive - was 24.5%.

The average test positivity rate (TPR) which was a little over 16 to 19% last week, has risen to 24 to 26% this week. There are at least five districts which reported more than 20% TPR, data released by the state’s health ministry shows. The active caseload has also risen to 2,84,086 as compared to less than 1 lakh last month.

Apart from other measures, the government also decided to set up new oxygen plants in hospitals and oxygen parlours in worst-affected areas. District collectors have been asked to monitor oxygen stock regularly, Vijayan said.

During the first wave, only 3% of Covid patients ended up in hospitals but this time their number is between 8.5 and 10%, medical experts said.

This high proportion of people turning up at hospitals has led the state to tweak its strict discharge policy to accommodate more patients and ease the pressure on hospitals. Normal and intensive care unit admissions continue to rise exponentially and hospitals have been strictly told to admit only serious patients.

“There is no need to panic if symptoms are minor and crowd hospitals. It will put undue pressure on hospitals and the more needy ones will be left out in the process,” the chief minister said.

On Thursday, the state reported 48 deaths pushing the total fatalities to 5,259.

Ernakulam district topped the list of new Covid cases with 5,396 cases, Kozhikode 4,990 and Thrissur 3,954 cases. There are around 1,700 critically ill patients who are in intensive care units. The comparable figure last month was less than 500.

The government medical officers association has asked the government to impose a two-week lockdown on the lines of neighbouring Karnataka. Earlier, the Indian Medical Association also made the same demand but the government said a hard lockdown would impact the means of livelihood of the poor.