The Centre has allocated ₹267.35 crore to Kerala under the Emergency Covid Response Package. An additional ₹1 crore will be made available to each district in the State for creating a medicine pool. The Centre will also support a Center of Excellence for Telemedicine Facilities.

Pediatric ICUs, along with 10 kilolitre liquid oxygen storage tank facility, will be set up at every district hospital to prioritise the health of children. These were announced by Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya after he reviewed the Covid-19 response in the State after meeting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Health Minister Veena George here on Monday.

Covid strategy ‘satisfactory’

The Union Health Minister also praised Kerala’s efforts to contain the toll from Covid-19, and expressed satisfaction over pandemic containment strategy.

The State has become a model by avoiding vaccine wastage to the maximum and ensuring extra doses in the process.

Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, who accompanied the Minister, observed that the State is ahead of the national average in vaccinations while the death numbers were one of the lowest. Bhushan also recalled that Kerala’s public health infrastructure is among the best.

Mandaviya assured adequate vaccine supply to support the ongoing drive in the State. Kerala made a request for 1.11 crore vaccine doses to be made available during this month and the next. The Union Minister responded by saying that this would be executed in phases.

According to him, vaccine production has been scaled up in the country and supplies in adequate quantities to Kerala as demanded should not pause a major problem.

Contact tracing

The Health Secretary called for better focus on contact tracing and intensifying efforts to check new infections currently reported. “A person testing positive is seen as infecting colleagues and their friends here, while in other States transmission is limited to the immediate family,” he observed.

Earlier, on Monday afternoon, the Union Minister and the Union Health Secretary had arrived in Thiruvananthapuram for a day’s visit to take stock of the State’s Covid response.

He also advised the State to maintain utmost caution during the Onam-time unlock. “I understand that the government has allowed relaxations in lockdown during this week coinciding with the Onam festival season,” he said.

While this is inevitable to some extent, it is incumbent on the general public, in its own interests, to not take undue liberty with Covid-appropriate behaviour.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Kerala reported 12,294 new cases of infections at a test positivity rate (TPR) of 14.03 per cent when a comparably fewer 87,578 samples were tested during the weekend. The day also reported 142 deaths that took the cumulative figure past 18,700 to 18,743.

Malappuram district continued to top the list with most new daily numbers with 1,693, followed by Kozhikode (1,522); Thrissur (1,394); Ernakulam (1,353); and Palakkad (1,344). The number of panchayats/wards with a Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) above the threshold of 8 per cent was unchanged at 634. These panchayats/wards invite triple lockdown and other controls.

Last week saw the State administer 24 lakh doses of vaccine, with daily numbers crossing 5 lakh on a few days. Wayanad district became the first to vaccinate all eligible persons in the 18-plus group on Monday, which also marked the last day of an intensive inoculation drive.

Related Topics
comment COMMENT NOW