With 211 fresh Covid-19 cases, the highest since the outbreak began, Kerala on Friday decided to increase the number of tests and tighten quarantine norms across the state. Addressing the media, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in some cases the source of infection was unknown and it was a worrying point.
In the last 12 days, the daily number of cases crossed 100 every day but there is some relief as the rate of recovery also increased proportionally. “We have managed the disease with our strict protocol of track, trace and treat so far. But in some cases we could not trace the source of infection and it is putting pressure on us,” said the CM adding the state will increase the number of tests it conducts. Now the state’s testing rate is 5,000 daily and it will be doubled in the coming days.
He said strict action will be taken against those who ostracise people who came from other states or abroad. He was referring to the case of a mother and her two minor children in Kottayam, who were refused entry into their house even after the 14-day institutional quarantine. She was also denied entry into her house and later she was shifted to a care home.
“We have made rapid strides in the fight against the pandemic so far. But incidents like this sully our image. Out main enemy is the disease, not the infected. They need our compassion and care. We will take action against those who ostracise them,” he said. He said he has written a letter to the union government seeking more flights from Saudi Arabia.
{{/usCountry}}“We have made rapid strides in the fight against the pandemic so far. But incidents like this sully our image. Out main enemy is the disease, not the infected. They need our compassion and care. We will take action against those who ostracise them,” he said. He said he has written a letter to the union government seeking more flights from Saudi Arabia.
{{/usCountry}}With 211 new cases, the total number of coronavirus cases has risen to 4,964 in the state. Out of this 2,098 are active cases and 2,849 people have recovered. At least, 90 per cent of the new cases are either expatriates or people who have returned from other states. The state has reported 25 deaths so far.