Kerala, which has been reeling under unabated increase in the number of Covid-19 cases and fatalities, got a small relief on Monday as the cases came down slightly to the comfort of Health Minister Veena George, who is leading the operation to fight the pandemic from the front line.
The Minister’s plea to the people of the State for the last one week to abide by the guidelines and not to crowd anywhere had its impact as the number of persons diagnosed with the pandemic came down to 13,984 on Monday from the daily average of more than 20,000 new cases.
The Test Positivity Rate too came down from the average figure of 13 to 10.93 per cent on Monday though the fatalities recorded during the last 24 hours showed 118 persons succumbing to the disease. The death toll till date reached 16,955 (excluding the 7,000+ under reported cases).
George said 1,27, 903 samples were tested during the last 24 hours. Thrissur topped the table of districts with the highest number of positive cases (2350). Malappuram which was the district with the highest number of patients till Sunday (the district had 3,770 cases ) diagnosed 1,925 new patients on Monday.
The Health Minister said that as on Monday, the State had 1.65 lakh patients undergoing treatment for Covid-19. Idukki district diagnosed 196 new cases while Wayanadu (represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi) had 263 patients.
Dr Rajiv B Pillai, senior Ayurvedic physician, was of the view that Idukki and Wayanadu were ideal districts to study about the immunity capability of the population. “Both these districts are known for people who work hard to earn their livelihood and have not changed their lifestyle to what we see in cities which are full of fast food joints and Arab foods,” said Dr Rajiv while glancing through the day’s figures.