Situation has turned alarming in Kerala by Tuesday as the death toll till date due to Covid-19 crossed the 50,000 mark. A release by Health Minister Veena George said that by Tuesday evening number of persons who succumbed to the pandemic shot up to 50,053.
The last 24 hours saw the department of health diagnosing 9,066 new cases of Covid-19 out of 63, 898 samples tested. “Situation is really grave and we should have some drastic action to prevent the transmission of the pandemic,” said Dr Rajiv Pillai, veteran medical practitioner specializing in contagious diseases.
Government doctors who are specialized in treating diseases like bird flu, swine flu and dengue are unanimous in their view that schools and colleges should be shut down immediately to prevent the young generation from ending up as victims of this fast spreading disease, the impacts about which were yet to be studies. “Students are vulnerable to end up as super carriers. I am more worried about the complaints made by youth that they suffer from memory loss after the attack of Covid-19. We are yet to ascertain whether it is temporary or permanent,” said a senior doctor in Government General Hospital in Ernakulam.
But K Sivankutty, Kerala Minister for education told reporters that there was no situation that warranted the closure of schools and colleges in the State as everything was under control. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is leaving for United States on Wednesday morning for advanced treatment for an ailment which has been tormenting him for sometime.