Thiruvananthapuram:
The Kerala government on Wednesday sounded an alert to all districts after a slight increase in Covid-19 cases in the state. After a meeting with core committee members and experts, health minister Veena George said there is a marginal increase in cases and on Tuesday the state reported 172 new infections.
According the latest bulletin, the state reported 210 Covid cases on Wednesday.
George said there were 1,026 actives cases in the state and 111 people were hospitalised. “We request all to wear masks and meet other measures to check the possible infection. There is no need of any panic and but it always good to take precautions,” she said after the meeting.
She said Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam districts reported maximum cases. “We have alerted all 14 districts. We are keeping a strict tab on the situation. If needed, we will conduct genomic sequencing tests in affected areas,” she said, adding all hospitals have also been alerted.
“We will monitor the situation on daily basis. The new variant of Covid-19 is highly infectious. So it always good to heed the advice of professionals and take precautions,” she said. The Union Government had already warned 6 states, including Kerala, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi called meeting in the capital on Wednesday evening to review the situation.
Many hospitals in the state have made masks mandatory and schools also advised children to wear them. The state had reported second maximum cases after Maharashtra during three bouts of the pandemic. The state had also registered over 1 40,000 cases for violation of Covid-19 protocols during the height of pandemic but these cases were withdrawn last year. With high density of population (859 people per sq km) and a large number of elderly population (at least 15% are above 60 years of age) and high volume of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and blood pressure, the state will have to go an extra mile, said experts.
{{/usCountry}}Many hospitals in the state have made masks mandatory and schools also advised children to wear them. The state had reported second maximum cases after Maharashtra during three bouts of the pandemic. The state had also registered over 1 40,000 cases for violation of Covid-19 protocols during the height of pandemic but these cases were withdrawn last year. With high density of population (859 people per sq km) and a large number of elderly population (at least 15% are above 60 years of age) and high volume of lifestyle diseases, such as diabetes and blood pressure, the state will have to go an extra mile, said experts.
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