THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sunday marked the end of the four-day night curfew imposed by the state government on December 30 in view of the rise in Omicron cases. However, the day also saw Kerala's Omicron tally cross the 150-mark as 45 more persons tested positive for the highly contagious COVID variant.
Now, all eyes are on the COVID review meet to be chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan this week as it will take a call on enforcing any fresh curbs. The newly-detected Omicron cases were from Ernakulam (16), Thiruvananthapuram (9), Thrissur (6), Pathanamthitta (5), Alappuzha (3), Kozhikode (3), Malappuram (2) and Wayanad (1). Of them, nine persons came from high-risk countries and 32 from other nations, while four were infected locally.
In view of the rise in Omicron cases, Health Minister Veena George has urged the people to maintain extreme vigil, wear N95 mask in public and not to lower it while speaking. The curfew from December 30 to January 2 had restricted people’s movement between 10pm and 5am.
Reinfection leaves more lasting issues
COVID reinfection is leaving some recovered patients with long-lasting health problems. Doctors say while there is no specific pattern seen in the infection, cases requiring hospitalisation have come down among the vaccinated.