Kerala, Pondy spar on Covid victim count
States fight over inclusion of a patient belonging to Mahe in their casualty list
Puducherry Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy has joined issue with Kerala government over the death of a Covid -19 patient. The person belonging to Mahe (bordering Kannur district) which falls within the jurisdiction of Puducherry, died in Kannur medical college on April 11. The death was included in the Kerala list of Covid-19 casualties.
The Kerala government objected to the inclusion of patient in the state’s list saying that the person had sought treatment here since Mahe lacked medical facilities. Hence the death should be added to Puducherry list.
However, Narayanasamy says as per the Central government norms, wherever a person gets detected for Covid-19 and subsequently dies there; his death should be recorded in that particular state.
The Mahe case had also led to controversy between Goa and Kerala. In her interview with the BBC, Kerala health minister K. K. Shailaja inadvertently referred to Mahe patient as hailing from Goa. In view of lack of medical facilities in Goa, the patient was brought to Kerala for treatment, she had told the anchor.
Her statement was objected to strongly by Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who took to Twitter saying that their state had excellent medical facilities and the patient did not belong to Goa. Subsequently, Kerala health minister clarified that it was a slip on her part.
Instead of mentioning Mahe, she said Goa. She apologised to both the Chief Minister and the health minister of Goa.
‘Shailaja teacher’ came in for sharp attack from BJP Kerala unit and trolls went after her on social media. Now, with the Puducherry Chief Minister raking up the issue, the controversy is far from being over.
Meanwhile, with 62 cases of Covid-19 reported on Saturday, Kerala continues to witness a steep rise in positive cases with total number of infected persons in the state reaching 275.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has convened an all-party meeting on Wednesday to discuss the situation against the backdrop of 104 cases being reported in last two days.
The meeting will be held with leaders of political parties through video conferencing.
Prior to the all-party meeting, the CM will hold a meeting with MPs and MLAs on Tuesday.
This is the highest spike in cases in the state since the infection began. Of the 62 cases, 18 are from abroad, 31 from other states and 13 contracted the infection through contact including seven health workers.
The recovery rate in the state has also fallen sharply with only 3 persons recovering from the infection on Saturday. So far 515 persons have recovered from Covid-19 in the state.
As on Saturday, 91,084 persons were under surveillance including 90,416 in home and institutional quarantine and 669 in hospitals.
Nine more new hotspots were declared on Saturday taking the total number of hotspots to 37.
Health minister K.K. Shailaja said the increasing number of cases calls for more caution and strict implementation of quarantine and precautionary measures.