It is after three months that the state is crossing the 30,000 mark in fresh cases – 30,491 cases were reported on May 20. With the opening of local bodies followed by Kerala. Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) There has been a drastic reduction in testing instead of TPR in the state.
From conducting around 2 lakh tests per day before August 5, when the new set of lockdown restrictions and relaxations were introduced, the state conducted less than 1.5 lakh tests per day. During Onam week, it further reduced it to less than 1.2 lakh tests per day.
There were 215 Kovid deaths on Wednesday, taking the total death toll to 19,972. The total number of active cases now stands at 1,70,292, with 2,439 persons admitted to hospitals during the day. The state’s cases accounted for 65% of the new cases reported from across the country that day. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan cited the example of Kerala during a high-level meeting on Wednesday to caution other states in view of the upcoming festive season.
Steps taken to give results without delay: Health Minister
health minister Veena George Said that the testing drive has been started to detect the infected at the earliest and reduce the spread of the virus. “Testing will be intensified in districts where vaccination is progressing at a slow pace. Maximum people will be tested in disease clusters and in areas where cases have been reported. Priority will be given to health workers, other frontline workers and businessmen. Testing will be done.” The facility is available in all government hospitals.”
Kerala Health Minister Veena George said sample collection would be done directly in cluster areas and through camps.
Veena said that sample collection will be done directly in cluster areas and through camps. “Steps have also been taken to provide results without delay. All those who have fever, cold, sore throat and those who have come in contact with the infected should be tested. If anyone is attending weddings, funerals or similar functions. After he tests positive, all other participants of the event must undergo the test,” she said.
IMA Kerala Secretary Dr. Gopikumar Pu Said, “The decision to do more testing has come too late. Our problems started when we stopped testing and contact tracing in a scientific manner, despite knowing that the dominant variant in Kerala is the delta version which is faster and more efficient. Spreads to more people. We suspect the cases are more than three times the amount officially declared.”
123 health workers are among those who tested positive on Wednesday. 4,70,860 persons are under observation, 4,44,278 under home/institutional quarantine and rest in hospitals. On Wednesday, 2,439 people were admitted to hospitals, while 1,70,292 are still undergoing treatment. A total of 36,92,628 people have been infected in the state so far.
However, an infectious disease expert in the government service said an increase in the number of cases was always expected once the restrictions were eased. “Even countries that vaccinated more than 70% of the population experienced breakthrough infections after removing masking and social distancing. The scale of hospitalizations needs to be monitored. The vaccine efficacy is expected to neutralize the intensity of the infection, thereby reducing the load on the hospital infrastructure,” said the expert.
Among the districts, Ernakulam had the highest number of cases (4,048), followed by Thrissur (3,865), Kozhikode (3,680), Malappuram (3,502), Palakkad (2,562), kollam (2,479), Kottayam (2,050), Kannur (1,930), Alappuzha (1,874), Thiruvananthapuram (1,700), Idukki (1,166) Pathanamthitta (1,008) and Wayanad (962).
Based on the weekly infection population ratio (WIPR), 414 wards in 74 local bodies are under strict lockdown restrictions, while their WIPR is above eight.
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