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Kerala to ramp up Covid testing in 6 districts as positivity rate remains high
The government’s decision to increase testing in these districts follow an emergency meeting of health officials and the district collectors called by Veena George according to the instructions of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
As Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR) continues to remain high in six districts in Kerala despite the lockdown and other restrictions, the state government on Tuesday said that testing, quarantine and contact tracing would be increased in these districts, according to the state health minister Veena George. The districts where the TPR remains high are Thrissur, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod.
The government’s decision to increase testing in these districts follow an emergency meeting of health officials and the district collectors called by Veena George according to the instructions of chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
In a Facebook post, the health minister said that all the six districts had achieved their Covid-19 testing targets. However, it will be maximised in these places where the number of infections is high to ensure stricter quarantine rules and contact tracing.
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According to the state’s daily bulletin, on Monday, 922 new cases were reported in Thrissur, 894 cases in Malappuram, 758 cases in Kozhikode, 560 cases in Kannur, 360 cases in Kasargod and 138 cases in Wayanad. Also, Malappuram with 13,722 cases and Kozhikode with 13,112 cases remained the worst affected districts in the state in terms of active caseload. As many as 9,123 active cases are present in Thrissur and in Wayanad, the count is 3,191. Both Kannur (5,289) and Kasargod (5,713) have more than 5,000 active cases.
Preparations for the third wave of infections were also mentioned in the meeting, the health minister said. Among the measures, spreading more awareness about the disease and strengthening the vaccination drive were discussed, as officials were instructed to increase the number of people given the jabs. State health secretary Rajan Khobragade and director of health department V Raju were among top officials who attended the meeting.
On Monday, more than 8,000 people (8,037 exactly) tested positive for the disease in Kerala and 102 people succumbed to the infection. So far, 2,981,721 people have been infected in the state while the death toll stood at 13,818, as per latest data. As many as 100,626 active cases of the disease were reported in the state, as of 2pm on Monday.
