E-Paper
Kerala records third Covid-19 death, 10 more people test positive
Ten fresh cases have been reported in the state taking the total number of positive cases to 374, the CM said adding 19 people had been discharged from hospitals.
With Kerala recording its third Covid-19 death on Saturday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state will take a call on extending the lockdown after the Union Government’s decision.
Ten fresh cases have been reported in the state taking the total number of positive cases to 374, the CM said adding 19 people had been discharged from hospitals. Out of ten new cases, seven have been reported from Kannur in north Kerala and 1,23, 490 people are under observation in the state, he said.
In Kannur, a cured woman gave birth to a baby after C-section surgery and both are in good health, he said. The doctors performed the operation wearing PPE kits and the baby will be kept away from the mother for a few days, said doctors of the Kannur medical college hospital. In an advanced stage of pregnancy she had tested positive last month and was shifted to an isolation ward. Later she tested negative.
There is a little confusion over the death of the latest victim, a 71-year-old resident of Mahe which is part of Puducherry. Admitted in the Pariyaram Medical College in Kannur he died in the early hours of Saturday. He was suffering from multiple complications and was on ventilator support for the last two weeks, health minister K K Shailaja said. Later, his body was buried under strict protocol in Kannur and only four family members were allowed.
Kerala was the first state in the country to report coronavirus cases and has the least number of deaths and a good recovery rate. The CM said the recovery of a large number of people was a good sign but it was too early to relax norms.
“Recovery of many patients and less number of people turning positive are good signs. It shows we have a good grip on the disease but if some lapses take place things will change. So we have to keep our surveillance up,” he said. He gave enough hint that the state was in favour of extending the lockdown but least affected areas will have to be eased.
The CM said in the meeting with the Prime Minister that the state sought more financial help and food grains. The state has also asked for non-stop trains to ferry migrant workers who are camping in 10,000- odd camps in the state. He sought special flights to bring back stranded expatriates in the middle-eastern countries.
