Kerala, once claimed as inaccessible to the pandemic by political masters, tested 10,031 new Covid-19 patients in the 12 hours that ended at 6 PM on Friday. The State also registered 21 deaths and a Test Positivity Ratio of 14.8 which has accorded the status of Covid-19 epicenter to Kerala, according to a Department of Health physician in Ernakulam.
Situation is alarming in neighboring Tamil Nadu which diagnosed 8,449 new cases and recorded 33 deaths by Friday evening. The figures in both the States are likely to see a surge for the next few weeks, according to doctors in the Government doctors. V P Joy, chief secretary of Kerala, made it clear that the impact of the restrictions announced on Thursday would be known only after ten days.
Though the Kerala Government had declared that more than 2.5 lakh persons would be tested on Friday and Saturday, as part of its test, track and isolate mission, the State has tested only 67,000 persons till Friday 5 pm.
Kozhikode and Ernakulam topped the table with 1,523 and 1,335 new persons diagnosed on Friday. Other than the restrictions announced on Thursday, the State has not disclosed any new measures to check the spread the pandemic.
Chennai diagnosed 2, 636 new cases on Friday while Chengalpattu tested 795 positive patients. There are 22,420 active Covid-19 patients in Chennai while Chengalpattu has 5,850.