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Kerala reports 23.5k Covid cases, 116 deaths
Four districts reported more than 2,500 cases. Thrissur has overtaken Malappuram (3,033) with 3,039 cases. Ernakulam (2,760) and Kozhikode (2,765) are two other districts with a high caseload.
Kerala on Wednesday reported 23,500 cases of Covid-19 with a test positivity rate of 14.49 per cent from the 162,130 samples tested, the state health ministry said, as medical experts criticized the Pinarayi Vijayan-led government for not treating the pandemic as a medical malady.
The state also reported 116 death, taking the total fatalities to 18,120. Kerala has continued to take the lion’s share in the daily national Covid tally, reporting more than 60 per cent of the total 38,353 cases in the country.
“The state government keeps experts and medical bodies in the dark and leaves everything to bureaucrats and political leadership,” said Dr S S Lal, who had a stint with the World Health Organisation. The Indian Medical Association Kerala chapter said medical experts were given a short shrift and the government often considers the medical malady a law and order problem.
Four districts reported more than 2,500 cases. Thrissur has overtaken Malappuram (3,033) with 3,039 cases. Ernakulam (2,760) and Kozhikode (2,765) are two other districts with a high caseload.
The ICU occupancy in the state has remained more or less unchanged at 2,100 and patients on ventilator support 790, health ministry statistics show.
State health minister Veena George told the assembly that the government is doing everything possible to contain the pandemic. She said the government has no information about the presence of a new mutant variant in the state.
“We hope cases will decline in coming week. But we have to be careful during Onam festival,” she said.
As cases spike, what worries the state is the breakthrough and re-infections. It reported 40,000 breakthrough Covid infections, which means people contracting the disease after getting two doses of vaccine. The central team, which visited the state confirmed it in New Delhi on Wednesday. Now, these samples will undergo genome sequencing to rule out the possibility of a new variant. Though experts suspected a new variant behind the steady rise of cases, the Indian Council of Medical Research is yet to confirm it.
The central team during its second visit found that in a high density of population, the prevalence of highly infectious Delta virus and laxity in-home quarantine are the main reasons for high caseload in the state. The state also has a high population of elderly people, and the prevalence of lifestyle diseases is also quite high, according to the medical records.
With Onam just a week away, the experts fear festive occasions could mean large gatherings and celebrations – another triggering factor.
