After recording over 30,000 cases in the last few days, Kerala on Sunday reported 26,701 fresh Covid-19 cases and 74 deaths pushing the total infection count to 4,207,838 and the fatalities till date to 21,496, according to the state health ministry. The test positivity rate (TPR) was 17.17 per cent after testing 155,543 samples in the last 24 hours, the health ministry said .
Kozhikode district topped the table with 3,336 fresh cases, followed by Thrissur 3,214 and Ernakulam 2,915.
A look at last seven days’ average TPR shows that four districts, Thrissur (23.37%), Palakkad (22.10%), Kozhikode (21.48%) and Wayanad 20.65%, reported more than 20 per cent positivity rate.
In some of the worst affected districts like Malappuram and Ernakulam, cases subsided a bit and TPR dipped to 15-20% bracket. Kasaragod in north Kerala recorded the lowest TPR with 12.91%.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) guidelines, TPR should be below 5 per cent if an area has to be declared out of the critical zone. Majority of the districts in the state reported three to four times higher the rate explaining the intensity of the infection.
With cases showing no sign of declining, the government has decided to take strict action against those found violating home quarantine guidelines. Those who violate the norms will now be booked, fined , which startes from ₹2000 onwards, and they will be shifted to institutional quarantine centres by the police, expenses of which will have to been born by the violators.
Many experts have blamed lax home quarantine rules for the persistent surge in cases. In north Kerala, many houses still have joint family which results in spreading the virus among other members.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturday said situation was under control and that there was no big jump in infections after the Onam festival and also adding that situation will subside by the second week of September.
