Kerala’s Covid-19 surge to continue till Sept second week, say experts

The test positivity rate or TPR remained high at 18.76 per cent after 1,74,854 samples were tested. Kerala also reported 173 deaths on Wednesday taking the total death toll to 20,961. Two districts reported over 4000 cases-- Thrissur 4424 and Ernakulam 4324. Statistics show there is a whopping 24 per cent increase in cases after Onam.

Kerala on Wednesday reported another spike with 32,803 new Covid-19 cases even as health experts said the high rate of positivity triggered by Onam festivities will continue till the second week of September.

The high viral caseload has invited enough trouble for the state as many neighbouring states have put severe restrictions on people travelling from Kerala. (AFP PHOTO.)

The worried government convened a meeting of experts, mainly epidemiologists, virologists and public health activists on Wednesday after the alarming spike in cases. Most of the experts present at the meeting said the present surge is likely to subside only after mid-September and asked the government to vaccinate the maximum number of people to check further damage.

The projection report prepared by the pandemic core committee also said the situation will stabilize only after September 10. The government has called another meeting with local body chiefs on Friday to streamline containment measures. The high viral caseload has invited enough trouble for the state as many neighbouring states have put severe restrictions on people travelling from Kerala. The Union health ministry has also asked Tamil Nadu and Karnataka to increase vaccination in districts bordering Kerala. On Tuesday also the state had reported over 30,000 cases.

The test positivity rate or TPR remained high at 18.76 per cent after 1,74,854 samples were tested. Kerala also reported 173 deaths on Wednesday taking the total death toll to 20,961. The active caseload also crossed 2.20 lakh. Two districts reported over 4000 cases-- Thrissur 4424 and Ernakulam 4324. Statistics show there is a whopping 24 per cent increase in cases after Onam. The R factor that tells how many new cases have been transmitted from an infected person has gone up from 0.9 per cent to 1.5% after Onam, health ministry statistics show.