Kerala on Wednesday reported 31,445 fresh cases, pushing its total infection count to 38,83,429 and fatalities to 19,972.
The number of Covid cases in Kerala jumped nearly 30 per cent over the past 24 hours to over 31,000 as the state government flagged an ‘Onam spike’. The state recorded 215 deaths along with a test positivity rate of 19.03 per cent.
The state on Wednesday reported 31,445 fresh cases, pushing its total infection count to 38,83,429 and fatalities to 19,972.
According to a government release, Ernakulam district recorded the highest number with 4,048 cases, followed by Thrissur (3,865), Kozhikode (3,680), Malappuram (3,502), Palakkad (2,562), Kollam (2,479), Kottayam (2,050), Kannur (1,930) Alappuzha (1,874), Thiruvananthapuram (1,700), Idukki (1,166) Pathanamthitta (1,008) and Wayanad (962).
These high numbers came a day after Kerala Health Minister Veena George called for “increased vigil” over the next four weeks as exposure at public gatherings during Onam season is expected to show up in the next 7-10 days, especially with the spread of the highly infectious Delta variant. Onam was celebrated by Kerala on August 21.
On Wednesday, referring to Kerala’s example, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan cautioned other states about the upcoming festival season, advising them to undertake all possible public health measures to curb infections.
Also read: Coronavirus Cases On The Rise Again, Kerala Accounts For 50% Of New Infections
Union Minister and BJP leader V Muralidharan on Wednesday attacked Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, by tweeting: “Alarming COVID-19 situation in Kerala, @vijayanpinarayi has clearly failed to protect people’s lives…Kerala alone recorded 24,296 cases & 173 deaths yesterday. @vijayanpinarayi’s illogical strategy & motivated media propaganda costing dearly the nation.”
The BJP also targeted the state’s new Health Minister, mocking her as “newsreader-turned-minister”. Ms George is a former journalist, a PTI report said. According to a PTI report, BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said, “Especially the newsreader-turned-health minister is busy reading the wrong script and spreading disinformation that everything is hunky-dory in Kerala.”
Since July 27, after Bakri Eid celebrations, during which restrictions were relaxed for a few days, Kerala has been reporting more than or close to 20,000 cases almost every day, which is around 50 percent of the entire country’s active cases.
The state is now setting up plans to vaccinate everyone above 18 years by the end of September.
However, there has been no major increase in ICU occupancy and hospitalisation despite the surge in the number of new cases in the state. Its case fatality rate remains one of the lowest in the country at 0.5 per cent.
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