Centre concerned over Covid situation in Kerala
Union health minister Mansukh Mandavia has cautioned Kerala against going in for large-scale celebrations during the forthcoming Onam festival in view of the high number of Covid cases in the state.
Mandavia expressed concern about the Covid situation in Kerala during his meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan here on Monday. The Union minister assured the Chief Minister that more doses of vaccine would be provided to Kerala. About one crore doses of vaccine are required in the state by September.
The Union minister’s visit comes against the backdrop of Kerala reporting 18,000 to 22,000 Covid19 cases daily, the highest in the country. At present the state has 1.72 lakh active cases and 4.63 lakh people are under home/institutional quarantine.
The Union minister urged the state government to implement effective containment measures. The current measures have not succeeded in bringing down the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) which continues to be between 14 to 15 per cent.
Lack of effective contact
tracing mechanism and monitoring has also resulted in the spike of Covid cases. The kind of contact tracing strategy which was seen during the first phase is missing in the state now.
The Chief Minister told the Union minister that the situation was under control in the state and the cases had gone up because Kerala had delayed the peaking of second wave. He informed Mandaviya that there was no shortage of ventilators,oxygen cylinders, ICU beds and hospital beds.
While appreciating the work being done by health care institutions, the Union minister urged the government and the people to be careful during the ensuing Onam festival which is later this month. Over crowding and violation of Covid safety norms could land the state in a grave situation as it already has a huge number of active cases.
Health minister Veena George also held discussions with the Union minister.
Meanwhile, experts have suggested that Covid patients with visible symptoms be shifted to first and second line treatment centres for strict compliance of isolation norms.
They pointed out the lack of coordination between the health department and other agencies including police and local bodies. Many people who are tested positive, are not complying strictly with isolation norms resulting in the spread of infection among other members of the family.
Meanwhile, the experts have cautioned the government against providing relaxations on a big scale during Onam festival days.