Kerala’s COVID parameters still below national average, says Vijayan

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan reiterated that the COVID situation in the State was in a better position while comparing with the national figures.

The Chief Minister said, “Although COVID was first reported in Kerala in the country, we have been able to contain the spread on a large scale as a result of the caution exercised by both the government and the people. Despite the increase in the cases in the last few days, we are still in a better position compared to the national average. The tests per million in Kerala are 92,788 as against the national figure of 77,054. There are 99 per million at the national level while in Kerala, it is 24.5. The State has a case fatality rate of only 0.36% as compared to the national average of 1.55%. The test positivity rate in Kerala is 7.2% as against 8.3% nationally. So if we look at the figures, we can see that the vigilance and steps taken so far have not been in vain. Therefore, they must be taken forward more vigorously.”

The number of patients was increasing by the day as a result of carelessness. In this context, the government is expediting the process of identifying and isolating possible patients in all districts as much as possible. The government also proposes to tighten the Covid restrictions in markets and public places. RTPCR test will be conducted even if the Antigen test is negative in suspected cases. The effort would be to keep the test positivity rate below 10.

According to a sero-survey conducted by ICMR in August to find out the percentage of people in the community who have contracted the disease, Covid was found to be present in 0.8 per cent of the population in Kerala as compared the national figure of 6.6 per cent.

“Kerala has a population density almost double the national average. The State has the highest proportion of the elderly population and also the highest number of expatriates. Kerala is also the state with the lowest urban-rural divide. All these are favourable factors for the spread of COVID. Yet this study has shown that we have been able to keep the spread of the disease at a significantly lower rate than the national average”, the Chief Minister said.

Kerala bags India Today health award

The Chief Minister announced that the State has received the India Today award for the best COVID defence. Kerala has won the India Today Health Giri Award in the State category for Covid defence activities in India. Union Health Minister, Dr Harsha Vardhan gave away the award on October 5 during an online function. The award recognises the performance of the State government in testing, managing isolation wards, accuracy in the allocation and disbursement of funds, focus on reducing mortality, and outstanding treatment of patients.