Kerala, which was projected as the role model in Covid -19 pandemic control during this period in 2020, has come a full circle and has become the State that has highest number of pandemic cases reported per day according to Indian Council of Medical Research.
The State, which is in the process of lifting up the lock down by phases in its road to normalcy, diagnosed on Friday
12,095 new Covid-19 cases with an average Test Positivity Rate of 10.11, said a release issued by the department of health, Government of Kerala. The day also saw 143 patients succumbing to the pandemic, taking the total death toll in the State till date to 13,505.
A senior Government Medical doctor said that he was neither shocked nor saddened by the development. “We have been observing the casual approach of the authorities since the pandemic was reported in the State for the first time. I am sad that the lifting of the restrictions is playing havoc with the public health in the State. Nobody is observing the social distancing norms while the traffic blocks witnessed across the State point to more hard times,” said the doctor with more than three decades experience in trauma care.
Kerala has more than 300 regions where the TPR is on the higher side of 12 with more than 80 regions reporting TPR of 18 per cent and above making the State an almost epicentre of the pandemic in South India.
Meanwhile the number of Covid-19 cases came down further in neighbouring Tamil Nadu as the Directorate of Health and Preventive Medicine in its release said the State logged 4,230 new cases and 97 deaths on Friday.
The release also said that the State has 36.707 active patients under treatment as on Friday.
Coimbatore recorded 486 new cases (the State’s highest figure) while Chennai reported 238 cases. “The figures point to the fact that situation is stabilising in Tamil Nadu but I will keep my fingers crossed for another two months before jumping into a conclusion,” said a senior Tamil Nadu Government doctor.