As Covid-19 cases gallop, Kerala bans big gatherings; test positivity rate at 14.35%

The government was forced to tighten measures after cases increased manifold and recovery rate dipped.

The Kerala government on Saturday banned large gatherings throughout the state for a month following a sharp increase in virus caseload, said an order issued by state chief secretary Viswas Mehta. It will be in force till October 31.

Medical staff members of a government-run medical college collect swabs from people to test for coronavirus disease (Covid-19) at a newly installed Walk-In Sample Kiosk (WISK) in Ernakulam, Kerala. (REUTERS)

“We have no other option other than tightening control measures. The situation is really serious. It was under control for successive months but our recent laxity led to a big spike,” said chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his Facebook post. Assembly of more than five people won’t be allowed and those who flout will be booked under the disaster management act, the CM said.

Besides a ban on large crowd, prohibitory orders will in place in containment areas. The government was forced to tighten measures after cases increased manifold and recovery rate dipped. With respect to active cases, the state remained on third spot after Maharashtra and Karnataka. Cases of infection started rising when other states were showing a downward trend. Experts have warned cases to peak by the second week of October.

Though there are strict curbs on large gathering, there is no restriction on government institutions, commercial establishments and shops and on the movement of public transport but they will have to maintain social distancing and avoid crowding, the order said.

Kerala’s test positivity rate remained high at 14.35 percent while the national average is 8. The state’s recovery rate is 63.39 percent but the national average is 83.01. The death rate, however, is really low (0.4 percent) when compared to neighbouring states, health ministry data shows. On Saturday, the state reported 7,834 new cases of Covid-19 taking the total to 2,21,333. The recovered cases of Covid-19 stand at 1,39, 620 while active cases have come up to 80,818. With 22 new deaths, the toll has gone up to 814.