After a week-long gap, Covid-19 cases crossed 30,000 in Kerala on Wednesday, said the state health ministry. Among 1,71, 295 samples that were tested, 30,196 turned positive taking the test positivity rate (TPR) to 17.63%.
The spike happened a couple of days after chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said cases were on decline and the situation will stabilise by the second week of September. The state government had lifted night curfew and Sunday lockdown on Tuesday after cases dipped. The weekend lockdown was in force for more than three months.
A look at the statistics show a sharp increase in tests as the main reason behind the present tally. Total fatalities also crossed 22,000 with 181 deaths on Wednesday and active cases stood at 238,480. Last week average cases were around 22,000 and TPR was below 15%.
“It is natural that cases will go up once tests are increased. The state should have increased the tests a couple of months back,” said public health expert Dr SS Lal. The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said the state is still conducting more antigen tests. “More than half of the total tests are still antigen,” said party leader S Suresh. When asked about this, a senior health ministry official refused to comment.
Three districts reported more than 3,000 cases – Thrissur 3,832, Ernakulam 3,611 and Kozhikode 3,058. Two districts reported less than 1000 – Wayanad 894 and Kasaragod 510 cases. In one of the worst affected districts, Malappuram, cases came down to 2,580 but in Thiruvananthapuram district cases went up to 2,900, according to data.
In last 24 hours, the country reported 35,875 new cases with TPR below 2%. It also reported 369 deaths. Going by the present statistics, the state’s share of Covid cases is more than 70%.
A day after Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the phased reopening of higher educational institutions from October 4, health minister Veena George on Wednesday said that vaccination facilities would be available for final year students to get inoculated before they enter their respective colleges.
The health minister, in a press release, said that all final year students should take at least one dose of the COVID vaccine before entering college.
Meanwhile, Kerala Minister for Higher Education and Social Justice R Bindu, while speaking to reporters here, said that similar to last year, classes would be held either in two shifts or on alternate days.
