The Indian Medical Association (IMA) has said that the country is in a declining phase of the Covid second wave except for a few States such as Kerala and Maharashtra with high numbers.

It pains to see that the Kerala government has issued an order to ease the lockdown on the pretext of various religious gatherings. This is unwarranted and inappropriate at this time of medical emergency, JA Jayalal, National President, and Jayesh Lele, Honorary Secretary-General, IMD, said.

‘Unfortunate thinking’

“When States such as Jammu & Kashmir, Uttar Pradesh and Uttaranchal have, displaying constructive sense of public safety, stopped traditional popular pilgrimage yatras, it is unfortunate that a ‘learned’ State like Kerala has taken these decisions facilitating mass gatherings,” the IMA office-bearers said.

On Sunday, Kerala reported 205 local self-government jurisdictions where the test positivity rate (TPR) is higher than 15 per cent; 362 jurisdictions with a TPR between 10 and 15 per cent; 384 with TPR between five and 10 per cent; and 83 jurisdictions with a TPR of less than five per cent.

Sabarimala pilgrims limit

Meanwhile, Kerala enhanced the daily limit of pilgrims permitted for the darshan at Sabarimala in Pathanamthitta district from 5,000 to 10,000. The relevant order issued late on Saturday evening directed authorities to take necessary steps to ensure that the pilgrims follow Covid-19 protocols.

Bakrid-time relaxations

Also on Saturday, the lockdown was relaxed in the run up to Bakrid with shops even in areas under a triple lockdown in place being allowed to open on Monday and further easing for areas with lower positivity rates of up to 10 per cent).

Saturday also saw the state report five more cases of Zika virus infections in the state with all of them being identified in the epicenter district of Thiruvananthapuram. This has taken the number of the infected so far to 35, with 11 active cases on Saturday, while the rest have since tested negative.

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