Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan: Reversed The Lockdown Pattern After Seeing COVID-19 Spike, Reports 19 New Cases
Thiruvananthapuram: While Kerala was lauded for successfully bending the Covid-19 curve in the state, epidemiological trends are once again changing in the state.
For the past one week, Kerala had been consistently reporting more number of recovered cases than new cases each day.
But now the pattern is being reversed. On Tuesday, Kerala reported 19 new coronavirus cases, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan told media.
With this, the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 424. The total active cases have increased to 117 while over 36,000 people are under observation.
Of the new cases, 10 have been reported from Kannur, four from Palakkad, three from Kasargod and one each from Malappuram and Kollam.
The concerning thing for state authorities is that even individuals who had gone into self-isolation for more than 21 days after foreign travel are now testing positive for Covid-19.
Of the 10 new cases reported from Kannur, nine have international travel history. Three of the four cases from Kasargod also came back from abroad.
The Palakkad, Malappuram and Kollam patients had reportedly all travelled to Tamil Nadu and returned to Kerala. CM Pinarayi Vijayan stressed that borders with Tamil Nadu need to remain closed.
Speaking to media, CM Vijayan said, “We tested asymptomatic people who returned from abroad between March 12 and April 21.”
The Kerala administration had announced several relaxations in the lockdown from April 20. But now the state is starting to backtrack.
“Hotspot regions identified by the health department will be completed sealed. Only a few medical stores will be allowed. We have noticed people coming out in large numbers in some parts of Kannur. I would request the people to stay at homes till May 3. Our experience is that the virus transmission is going beyond expectation,” he said.
KANNUR REPORTS MOST CASES
The Kannur district has become the new hotspot of Covid-19 in the state. The northern district with 53 Covid-19 cases had been classified as red zone and is under complete lockdown with three Superintendents of Police have been vested with the responsibility of implementing the restrictions, officials said.
Taking a serious view of people thronging streets and heavy rush of vehicles in some parts of the state on Monday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had stringent steps will be taken to follow the safety precautions to prevent the Covid-19 spread.
“Kannur today registered 10 new cases taking the total positive cases to 53. In all 104 of them had turned positive in this district, which is the highest among all 14 districts. So, the lockdown measures will be further strengthened and very strict enforcement will be in place. All people in Kannur have to be very careful and cautious,” CM Vijayan said.
“We have another case where a 63-year-old woman in Pathanamthitta where she turned positive on March 13, and while 21 samples have been tested, then the only negative sample of hers came on April 2. Even now, she continues to be in isolation at the hospital. So these are the patterns and hence we have to be very careful and alert and none should take relaxation as some sort of freedom,” he added.
The southern state reported the first coronavirus case in the country on January 30, when a student who had returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the virus, tested positive.
This was followed by two more students, both Wuhan returnees.
The second wave of the infection hit the state on February 19 when a three-members of a family who had returned to Kerala from Italy tested positive. However, over time the state managed to control the spread of the virus and bent the curve.