Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan issued an alert to the people of Kerala that community transmission was staring the State and anytime from now it would become a reality. The State diagnosed on Thursday 339 persons with Covid-19, the highest number to be recorded in Kerala since the first citing of the pandemic in January.
While Chief Secretary Viswas Mehta opted to stay in his house as part of observation following the diagnosis of his driver with Covid-19, Poonthura, one of the coastal suburbs of the capital city saw the Government deploying armed commandos to prevent the spread of the pandemic. “We are experiencing super spread in Poonthura and the coastal area has been cut off from the rest of the district,” said Vijayan. Super Spread is the term used to denote unprecedented rate of infection, a step closer to community transmission, the chief minister explained.
Thiruvananthapuram, which has been described as a volcano by Kadakampalli Surendran, Minister for Tourism, on Thursday tested 95 persons with the pandemic. Out of the 339 persons diagnosed with coronavirus on Thursday, 117 were expatriates, 74 were those who returned to the State from other parts of the country. “What is of concern is that 133 persons got infected through contacts and this is a warning sign. It was from the fish and vegetable market in the capital city that the pandemic spread to other parts of the district which forced the administration to declare Triple Lock Down. If we turn a blind eye to this experience, we would be forced to declare Triple Lock Down in more areas,” said the chief minister.
Vijayan also said that 133 persons getting afflicted through contacts is an indication of super spread which would make life difficult for others. Without naming the demonstrators and protestors who are taking out marches and rallies all over the State in violation of the social distancing restrictions and not wearing face masks, Vijayan said this would boomerang as not maintaining social distancing and assembling without any purpose are sure recipes to the spread of the pandemic.
The Chief Minister also disclosed that 471 persons were hospitalised on Thursday after they were found to be afflicted with covid-19. “Till date we have tested more than three lakh people. On Thursday there were 181 hotspots in the State. Till date we have diagnosed 6,534 persons with Covid,” said the CM.