The Kerala government on Sunday directed agencies involved in conducting serosurvey to speed up the process after it decided to reopen schools from November 1. The state reported 19, 653 fresh Covid-19 cases with a test positivity rate of 17.35 per cent and 152 fatalities, the health ministry said.
The state decided to conduct a seroprevalence survey in the first week of August, and samples were collected from all districts to get an indication of the exact population exposed to the virus. According to the earlier survey conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Kerala has the lowest presence of antibodies at 44.4 per cent in comparison to Madhya Pradesh, where it stood at 75.9 per cent.
The government has also decided to stop rapid antigen tests for Covid- 19 in private laboratories. They will be allowed to conduct in government laboratories only in an emergency at the discretion of a medical practitioner. The state completed 89 per cent Covid vaccination.
“We have vaccinated 89 per cent with a single dose, and 36.7 got the second dose also. We are fast moving towards our goal of cent per cent vaccination,” said state health minister Veena George. A special drive was started on Friday to scout people above 65 years who have not yet been vaccinated.
In the last 24 hours, the country reported 30,773 new cases and 309 deaths and the active caseload stands at 332,158. Statistics show Kerala continues to contribute a major share of new cases, death and active cases. Experts said the state’s mounting cases will drop by the end of this month.
For more than three months, the state remained the pandemic capital reporting around 70 per cent of the total cases of the country. The second stage of infection aggravated after the Onam festival in August- end. Despite high Covid cases, the state reported no health crisis or shortage of oxygen. On Saturday, the government had announced its decision to open schools from November 1 after an 18-month interval. Initially, it will open only higher classes, said education minister V Sivankutty adding preparations are on for this.
