COVID-19 cases in Kerala have decreased by 5% in the last week, despite considerable increase in the number of tests, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. "On February 4, there were 68,847 active cases in the state. A week ago, on January 28, the cases were 72,392. Cases have decreased by around 5% in one week," the CM said in a press meet on Friday, adding that testing has been ramped up.
The number of samples sent for coronavirus testing on February 1 was 33,579. This increased to 52,940 on February 2; 59,635 on February 3, 84,007 on February 4, and 91,931 on February 5.
"It's because of strong prevention practices that there are still people in the state who haven’t contracted the virus yet. It's due to the high vigil that the disease transmission is slow in the state. Therefore, we were able to arrange facilities required to take care of the patients and to keep the mortality rate low," he said.
On Friday Kerala reported 5,610 COVID-19 cases and 19 deaths.
However, the CM also said that the message is that we should intervene more seriously. "Relaxing restrictions doesn’t imply that the threat of COVID-19 has gone away. We should keep washing hands, wearing masks and keep physical distance without any lapse,” he urged.
Meanwhile, more than 60 employees of Secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the state, have been tested positive for the novel coronavirus. The employees’ associations have asked the government to increase the number of tests in the Secretariat and to limit the attendance of staff to 50%. The development hall of the Finance Department and Housing Co-operative Society Centre have been closed owing to the transmission among the employees.
The employees, who tested positive for the virus, are mostly from the Law and General Administration Department.
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