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Kerala continues to report high caseload
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded a high Covid-19 caseload of 13,750 cases on Friday with a test positivity rate (TPR) of 10
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded a high Covid-19 caseload of 13,750 cases on Friday with a test positivity rate (TPR) of 10.55%, according to the data released by the state health ministry.
In last 24 hours, total number of cases in the country was 38,949 with a TPR below 3%, which shows the southern state contributed more than 30% of total cases. At least six districts reported more than 1,000 new cases on Friday. Among 542 deaths, Kerala’s share was 130.
The state’s active case pool, which went down to below one lakh last month, has been steadily rising for past three weeks and on Friday it stood at 121,944. Similarly new cases continue to show a rising trend in many northern districts triggering a fresh fear that there can be resurgence in cases even as the second wave shows slow plateauing.
Though pressure on the health system has been eased considerably, every day the state is recording an average of 100 fatalities, according to records. The ICU admissions and critically ill patients, in both public and private hospitals, remained more or less unchanged in last two weeks. There are 724 patients that require ventilator support, according to health ministry data.
Though the state put a target to conduct 3.75 lakh tests in two days, it failed to cross 2.50 lakh. Many experts have blamed its poor testing rate and obsession to cheap antigen tests for the present state. However, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan rejected these contentions and said the situation is well under control. The state has administered the first dose of vaccination to 1.17 crore people and 44.18 lakh got both doses (state population is 3.46 crore). The CM sought 60 lakh more doses to cover a major portion of the population and he also cited zero wastage of the vaccine in the state.
“The second wave started in the state very late. It is a fact that daily caseload and active cases are high but no need to panic. Our hospitals are not crowded and there is no shortage of oxygen also,” he said, adding the situation will stabilise by July end.
But many experts complained that the government was going ahead with the advice of bureaucrats and it often ignored public health experts and medical bodies like IMA.
Meanwhile, the government has eased restrictions in view of upcoming Eid-ul-Adha (Bakrid). In Kozhikode, many shopkeepers hit the street on Wednesday protesting severe restrictions on them and threatened to flout regulations. following which the CM held talks with them and eased some curbs. They can open shops this Sunday and shopping hours have been extended till 8pm. The CM also promised more relaxations in coming days, traders said.
