Kerala after a hiatus has reported more COVID-19 positive cases in a day than the number of recovered cases. Nineteen new cases were reported on Tuesday April 21, while the number of recovered patients stand at 16. Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in his COVID-19 media briefing said, “Today the situation is something different from that of some of the recent days, the positive cases are higher than the negative cases.”
Out of the 19 new cases, 10 have been reported from Kannur; the district has surpassed Kasaragod in the highest number of cases in the state. Kasaragod had the highest number of cases till April 1. On Tuesday Kasaragod reported three cases; one case each has been reported from the districts of Malappuram, Palakkad and Kollam. Kannur so far has reported 102 cases and 53 of them are active.
All of three cases from Kasaragod are those who came from abroad. In Kannur nine new patients are those who came from abroad and one got the disease through contact. The affected persons from Palakkad, Malappuram and Kollam are those who returned from Tamil Nadu. “This shows the need of making control sterner at the borders,” the Chief Minister has said.
As on Tuesday the total number of cases is at 426 while the active cases stand at 117. As many as 36,667 people are under observation in the state; 36,335 under home quarantine; while 332 are on isolation in hospitals. On Tuesday 102 people were admitted in hospitals.
As of now 20,252 samples have been sent for examination of which 19,442 returned negative.
The CM said that action has been taken to test the samples of all Non Resident Keralites (NRKs), who returned to the state between March 12 and April 22, including those who are asymptomatic, and all the people in the high risk contacts.
Complicated cases
The CM said that it’s not easy to overcome the crisis citing the example of a woman who has not got recovered despite 45 days in isolation.
“Our experience is that the transmission of the disease is unpredictable. We even have some strange experiences. In Pathanamthitta, a 62-year-old woman who was in the first cluster has still not recovered. She was admitted in the hospital on March 8, her sample was first taken on March 10 which returned positive on March 13. So far 21 samples of the patient have been sent for examination. She remains positive for the past 36 days. She doesn’t have any major health issues. She has been under isolation at the hospital for the past 45 days. This is one among the realities before us,” the CM said.
Religious institutions will remain shut
In a video conference with various religious heads, it has been decided to keep religious institutions shut in the state.
“A consensus has been reached in the meeting to avoid Ramadan related iftars, prayer meetings, and donations including donating food. The religious scholars themselves opined so citing the restrictions imposed in Mecca and Medina. They have assure that they will follow government guidelines. The government is thankful to them. I once again congratulate the heads of religions who, considering the future of the society, have decided to do away with all joint prayers and meetings. This is most sensible decision at the time of facing the pandemic,” the CM said.