Kerala Health Department has directed district administrations to assess their preparedness against any uptick in Covid-19 cases, closely monitor the situation on ground, and report any rise in the graph of daily new infections promptly.
The current situation in the State as a whole does not warrant any precipitate action but that should not prevent the district administrations from giving up on disease surveillance and vigil since cases are beginning to rise in other states.
Case load in Kochi
Health Minister Veena George convened a high-level meeting on Monday to take stock of the situation, which agreed that during the past week or so, only Kochi had reported a slight increase in infections.
No new case clusters have been reported from anywhere in the State during this period either. The number of new cases reported on Monday was 255 while it hovered mostly below 300 during the past week. The number of active cases is 1,812.
Given this context, all districts have been asked to strengthen preventive and control measures and conduct review meetings regularly to coordinate activities and report any change in case pattern. “We need to be on our guard,” the minister said.
Disesel transmission outlook
The meeting assessed that the current level of disease transmission in the State may continue for a few more days. The consensus outlook ruled out a significant Covid wave any time soon, but the State could not afford to relax on basic Covid protocols.
Wearing masks will need to be enforced, especially indoors where there were more chances of disease transmission, the minister said. Precaution doses must reach all, while the general vaccination drive should go on, with special reference to children.
The meeting also took on record complaints about a few private labs and private hospitals charging high for testing. The minister asserted that private labs would not be allowed to charge more than government-approved rates.