Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 2 (PTI) As the rest of the nation witnesses an ebb in COVID-19 cases, Kerala has been reporting a Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of over 40 per cent, but far from being defensive over the high figures, state health minister Veena George said Kerala is firmly in control of the situation.
Breaking down the seemingly confounding Covid numbers from the region – which has hardly ever mirrored the situation across the nation – George said several factors, including the highly infectious nature of the latest variant of concern, and deliberate non-imposition of major restrictions like lockdowns, led to the rapid rise in COVID-19 cases.
After dropping below the 50,000 mark for a day, fresh COVID-19 cases in Kerala on Tuesday rose to 51,887 raising the caseload to 60,77,556 in the state. While the state reported 42.86 per cent TPR on Tuesday, Kerala showed an average positivity rate of 45.9 per cent for the last seven days. On January 25, Kerala had registered 55,475 cases, the highest ever single day spike in the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.
“Various reasons led to the rapid rise in Covid cases. The infectivity of Omicron was high, but we did not impose any major restrictions like a lockdown. As the vaccination rate in the state is high and the severity of the new variant is less, we decided not to rein in the spread this time around. Our strategy is different from the last two waves,” George told PTI.
One factor, however, has been consistent in the state since the outbreak – the relatively low rate of hospitalisation of Covid cases, which is particularly true of the third wave.
“Currently, only three per cent of the total COVID-19 patients in the state are hospitalised. Among that only 0.4 per cent require ICU facilities. Those who are hospitalised are either with comorbidities or the elderly,” the journalist-turned-politician said.
The minister said the TPR was high these days because the state was strictly adhering to the Purposive Testing Strategy issued by the ICMR. The advisory on purposive testing strategy was issued to ensure early detection of asymptomatic cases as well as detection of infections in the elderly (above 60 years) and individuals with comorbidities for quick isolation and care.
With 1,61,386 people testing positive for coronavirus infection in a day, India’s total tally of cases increased to over 4.16 crore on Wednesday. The daily positivity rate was recorded at 9.26 per cent, while the weekly positivity rate was 14.15 per cent, according to the health ministry.
George pointed out that tests per million in Kerala was still high when compared to other parts of the country which also reflects on the high number of cases. As many as 1,21,048 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.
“We had earlier expected a proportional increase in the number of hospitalisations as the number of infections rose, but that did not happen,” George said, adding that the health department expects the rise in cases to come down by mid February.
Significantly, she said that the health department in the state did not halt non-Covid treatment amid the third wave, over 90 per cent of which were Omicron cases.
“Our third wave came during the tail end of the second wave. Even though there was a surge in COVID-19 cases, we did not stop the non-covid treatment in the state,” she said.
As the number of cases increased in the state, the Left government had earlier decided to impose new mitigation strategy by imposing restrictions at district level on the basis of the number of people admitted to hospitals and authorised the Disaster Management Authority to divide the districts into three groups, A, B and C.
In the districts falling under A category, all social, cultural, religious, political and public events and weddings and funerals can be attended by up to 50 people. No such gatherings will be allowed in the B and C category districts. In such areas, religious worship should be conducted online only and a maximum of 20 people will be allowed for weddings and funerals. Movie theaters, swimming pools and gyms are not allowed to function in C category districts.
Kerala Government Medical Officers Association general secretary, Dr T N Suresh, told PTI that the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases is now going through a plateau phase.
“But the number of undetected patients due to lack of symptoms is an alarming factor. Hospitalisation in Kerala is less due to various reasons including the effect of vaccination or maybe the virulence of the organism has decreased,” Suresh said. He said even though the number of hospitalisation cases were less, certain restrictions were required as the world was dealing with a virus which has a high rate of infectivity.
Meanwhile, the immediate past state president of Kerala IMA, Dr P T Zacharias said the cases in Kerala were also reducing but not showing a remarkable decrease.
“There are many reasons for the spread. The Omicron variant has an R-value of 10 per cent which means they spread faster but not as severe as the Delta variant. Moreover, Kerala is one of the most densely populated states in the country. Along with that we did not have any restrictions like lockdown,” he said. He also pointed out that the opening of theaters in the state was not required.
A doctor in government service, who did not wish to be identified, told PTI that many people with mild symptoms are not going for testing but instead undergo self quarantine and medications.
“However, when they develop serious symptoms, they approach hospitals. The people should impose the COVID-19 health protocol themselves. It’s not possible for the government to impose a lockdown throughout. We the people need to learn to live following the guidelines including avoiding gatherings, using masks, sanitisers etc,” the doctor said.
The active cases decreased in India by 1,21,456 to reach 16,21,603– 4.20 per cent of the total infections — while the recovery rate stands at 94.60 per cent, the health ministry said on Wednesday.
There are currently 5,32,995 people under surveillance in various districts in Kerala, of whom 5,21,352 are in home or institutional quarantine and 11,643 in hospitals.There are 3,67,847 active cases in Kerala as per the health bulletin issued on Tuesday evening. PTI RRT ROH ROH
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