For the first time since Covid-19 broke out in Kerala in 2020, the Kerala Government has termed the situation grave as well as serious and called for urgent restrictions and regulations. Veena George, health minister, who addressed the media on Wednesday after a Cabinet meeting said that 34,199 persons were diagnosed with the pandemic after testing 91, 983 samples during the last 24 hours.
The death toll reached 51, 160 as 49 persons succumbed to Covid-19 during the last 24 hours as Kerala is experiencing the death continuing its “Thaandav” across the State, according to a Government doctor. The Test Positivity Rate on Wednesday was 37.17 per cent.
A review meeting has been called for Thursday in which ministers, department secretaries as well as health professionals would take stock of the present situation. “The meeting scheduled for Thursday would decide whether to shut down schools and colleges in the State. We will consider bringing in nigh curfew and week end shut down,” said Veena George.
The minister denied the allegations made by Leader of the Opposition that the CPI(M) district conventions and the Mega Thiruvathiras (traditional dance and song programme presented by hundreds of women at Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Ernakulam praising Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan) were responsible for the spurt in the number of patients.
She said the double attack by the delta variant of the Covid and the Omicron were responsible for the shooting up of the pandemic cases in Kerala. Pinarayi Vijayan, suffering from a serious ailment, is undergoing treatment in a United States Hospital and would be back only by the end of January.
There are 645 Omicron patients in the State, according to the Health Minister. Though she said that only 3.2 per cent of the 1.68 lakh Covid patients have been admitted to the hospital, a Kerala Government Medical Doctors association said that they were under orders not to admit patients tested positive to the hospital. “The attempt is to portray all was well in the State and we do not knowhow long this would succeed,” said a Government physician in General Hospital, Ernakulam.