COVID-19 Spike In Kerala, Experts Blame Overconfidence, Low Testing Rate For Covid-19 Hike
Kerala added 50,000 active cases to the national tally in the last one week, and its test positivity rate (TPR) is twice the national average (15.6% against the national average of 8.4%).
Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala:
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja gathered heaps of praise by the International media, he and his department were tagged as “Corona Slayer” and “Rock Star Health Minister.”
The Communist-ruled state was considered as a role model for many Western countries that were toiling hard with pandemic control measures in the initial stages. In agreement with this, in May, the Kerala government asserted it the flattening coronavirus curve in Kerala.
But now the situation has reversed, the stats show things are not so pleasant for God’s Own Country. Health Ministry’s data shows, the state is rapidly becoming a Corona hub. If we leave low mortality rate all other indicators are heavily loaded at odds with Kerala.
Kerala’s test positivity rate (TPR) is twice the national average (15.6% against the national average of 8.4%) and in the last one week it added more than 50,000 active cases to its tally, the fastest viral caseload. The state’s growth rate is around 3 per cent and Kerala now stands on the 15th spot with statistics of tests per million.
Medical experts have warned the state is on with a high density of population and a large number of elderly people the journey is really tough for the state. They stated it as the government’s over confidence, low testing rate and its public relation drive led to the sorry state.
Despite all this Health Minister Shailaja stated that things weren’t that bad and there was a concerted move to blame the government and portray it in bad light. The Minister said, “We admit Covid-19 cases are on the rise. We expected this. But the state has got the lowest mortality rate; it is less than 0.5 per cent. Our intervention delayed the outbreak and we got enough time to prepare ourselves. When lockdown was in force, the numbers were under control but when people started coming from abroad and other states, the situation really changed.”
Experts want the government to take immediate steps to manage surge capacity and hike tests. Dr SS Lal, a public health expert who served the World Health Organisation for many years said, “The state is in a critical stage. It has to double its tests immediately. The government will have to rope in more experts at least for now.”