Exactly two months after Kerala declared that it succeeded in flattening the coronavirus curve which earned encomiums from all over the world for Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister K K Shylaja the State found itself being battered and bruised by the same virus forcing the administration to designate many towns, cities and even rural areas as containment zones.
It was on May 8 Pinarayi Vijayan made the announcement that Kerala has defeated the coronavirus and complimented all officials for the achievement. But on Wednesday , Vijayan chose to stay indoors as health minister Shylaja issued a release stating that 301 persons were diagnosed with coronavirus in the State. This is the highest number of persons testing positive in the State on a single day.
What has shocked the government health officials is the number of persons infected through contacts. On Wednesday 90 persons got infected through contacts hinting again that community transmission has set in. While 99 expatriates tested positive on Wednesday, 95 persons were those who returned from other parts of the country.
Situation continued to be grave in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode. The capital city which is under lockdown following unprecedented increase in the number of persons infected with the pandemic saw hundreds of political party workers staging demonstrations along the thoroughfares in violation of the lockdown rules.
The capital city was home to 64 out of the 301 persons tested positive for the pandemic on Wednesday. Out of this 64 covid-19 patients, 60 got infected through contacts which itself is self-explanatory of the seriousness.
The minister’s release said 2.605 persons were undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the State. The day also saw 421 persons getting hospitalised on account of the covid-19 pandemic.
The State has sent 11, 250 samples for testing during the last 24 houtrs. Till date, a total of 2.96 lakh samples have been sent for testing. Aluwa, a major commercial centre in Ernakulam has been totally shut down. Sunil Kumar, Kerala’s Agriculture Minister, who is in charge of the Ernakulam district, asked the Aluwa population to stay indoors and not to come out unless it is an emergency.