THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state will mount a strong defence against the spread of Covid and will ramp up testing and vaccinations on a mass scale, Health Minister KK Shailaja has said.Shailaja told reporters after attending a meeting convened by Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan that the state is well equipped to deal with the situation even if a large number of cases were detected during mass screening for the virus.
On Saturday, the state reported 13,835 cases, the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic. Test positivity rate too shot up to 17.04%. Concerned by the spike, the state government extended the restrictions on public gatherings to weddings and housewarming ceremonies.Organisers of both ceremonies should register on the government’s Covid-19 Jagratha portal, an order said.
Maximum number of participants for any kind of indoor programme is 75 and 150 for outdoor. Government’s Covid incident commanders will verify that the number of participants does not exceed the limit and that Covid-19 protocol is followed at the function.Shailaja said people, who do not show Covid symptoms, will be allowed home isolation. Those who cannot arrange isolation facilities on their own will be housed in domicile care centres run by panchayats, she said.
According to the minister, those with minor Covid symptoms will be admitted to Covid First-Line Treatment Centres (CFLTC) and those with serious symptoms to Covid Second-Line Treatment Centres (CSLTC).The meeting convened by the Union health minister observed that Covid was spreading rapidly in the country and that the number of Covid patients in the state is also on the rise.
11% of people in the state have contracted virus, says Shailaja
Shailaja briefed the Centre on the steps taken by the state to arrest the Covid spread. According to her, the state led the country, both in the number of tests conducted as well as treatment for Covid. “As per the sero surveillance survey, 11% of people in the state have contracted the virus. This means we need to protect around 89% from infection,” Shailaja reminded.
Of the 60.54 lakh doses of Covid vaccine that the state received, only 5.5 lakh doses are left, the minister said. The state has urged the Centre to urgently dispatch 50 lakh doses of vaccine, she said. Though medicine and oxygen are not in short supply in the state, the Centre has been informed of the need to augment the supply if the number of cases were to increase.
“Though the death rate due to Covid is very high in most states, it is only 0.4% in our state,” Shaijala said. She added that strong steps need to be adopted to arrest the death rate due to Covid.
On the move to conduct the Thrissur Pooram, the minister said the festival cannot be totally avoided. The pooram should be conducted in strict adherence to Covid protocol, she reminded.
BOTH DOSES OF VACCINE MUST TO VIEW POORAM IN PERSON
T’Puram: The state government has come out with an order stating those interested in witnessing Thrissur Pooram in person should take both the doses of Covid vaccine. Earlier, the state had issued an order saying only one dose was required, which has since been cancelled. Those who are yet to receive the two doses have to compulsorily produce RT-PCR negative results. The devaswoms had distributed passes to those who had already received single dose of vaccine.