A day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the situation was very grave in the State and chances of a steep hike in the number of Covid-19 cases were strong, Kerala diagnosed 2,479 new persons afflicted with the pandemic. The Department of Health also confirmed the death of 11 persons due to Covid-19.
Adding to the worries of the people in the State and health authorities, 2,255 out of the 2,479 persons contracted the pandemic through social transmission and 149 expressed their helplessness to pinpoint the source from where they got afflicted. Thiruvananthapuram topped the table of patients with 477 cases, Ernakulam came second with 274 while Kollam diagnosed 248 cases. Out of the 14 districts in the State eleven had more than hundred patients each.
There are 21,268 Covid-19 patients in the State as on Friday evening while the day saw hospitalisation of 1,750 patients. Testing continued to be an area where the State is find wanting. Despite the beefing up of the test facilities, Kerala could test only 36,310 samples, almost half of what neighbouring Tamil Nadu is doing.
The Department of Health is in for another problem as more than 800 temporary doctors recruited for treating the growing number of Covid-19 patients submitted their resignation peeved over the non-payment of salaries. Pinarayi Vijayan refused to hold any talks with the representatives of the doctors when journalists brought to his attention the decision of the doctors to leave service.