E-Paper
Kerala reports 15,768 Covid cases, 214 deaths, says government
On Tuesday, Thrissur topped the Covid-19 chart with 1,843 cases, followed by Kottayam (1,631) and Thiruvananthapuram (1,591) cases. Kasaragod and Wayanad clocked the lowest cases, 186 and 237 respectively in Kerala.
Kerala on Tuesday reported 15,768 new Covid cases, and TPR of 14.94 per cent after 105,513 samples were tested, said the state health ministry. The state also reported 214 deaths, taking the total fatalities to 23,897. Active cases came down to 161,195 as compared to the past two weeks when active cases were above 200,000.
State health minister Veena George said 90 per cent of the eligible population has got the first dose of the Covid vaccine and four districts will achieve full vaccination soon.
On Tuesday, Thrissur topped the Covid-19 chart with 1,843 cases, followed by Kottayam (1,631) and Thiruvananthapuram (1,591) cases. Kasaragod and Wayanad clocked the lowest cases, 186 and 237 respectively.
“During the week between Sept 12-18, average active cases were 196,657, and out of this, only 2 per cent availed oxygen beds. Now, the dependence of oxygen beds is below one per cent. It shows there is a sharp dip in active and serious cases,” said the minister. But she asked people not to lower their guard. She said the results of the sero survey conducted by the state will come by the month-end
The state had started a sero prevalence survey in the first week of August to get a clear picture of the level of exposure to the virus. According to the earlier survey, conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research in July, Kerala had the lowest presence of antibodies at 44.4 per cent in comparison to Madhya Pradesh, where it stood at 75.9 per cent. Experts said the low presence of antibodies triggered mounting cases in the state.
Statistics of the last two weeks indicate that the active cases and test positivity rate (TPR) in the state have started to come down. In the first week of September, the average Covid cases were between 22,000 and 25,000, but now the average has come down to 15,000-18,000. Similarly, the average TPR dipped to 15% from 20%. Experts said cases will stabilise by the end of the month. For more than three months, the state has been reporting 60-70 per cent of the total cases of the country.
