Covid is enemy within family: Veena George on home isolation cases

Fresh Covid cases continues to be on the upward spiral in the state, which has put a question mark over the effectiveness of home quarantine.
Kerala health minister Veena George (Photo | Facebook)
Kerala health minister Veena George (Photo | Facebook)

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Fresh Covid cases continues to be on the upward spiral in the state, which has put a question mark over the effectiveness of home quarantine. On Thursday, the daily caseload was a staggering 30,077 cases, with the test positivity rate (TPR) at 18.08%.

A  health department study has found that 35 per cent of the new infections recorded were household ones, which indicated the lapses in home quarantine. Health Minister Veena George has urged people to prevent the spread through house-level contact. 

“When a person becomes infected, all the other family members pick up the disease. This happens due to the lapses in following home quarantine. Only those who have sufficient facilities at home need to opt for home quarantine. Others can get admitted to the domiciliary care centres,” she said. 

The central government too voiced concern at the effectiveness of home quarantine in the state. Considering the fact that 80 per cent of the Covid patients are taking treatment at their homes, the state should tighten its monitoring, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said on Thursday.

The Centre also directed the state to ramp up testing since Kerala has proved to be the most vulnerable during the second wave. Bhushan also held talks with the chief secretary and top health department officials. 

On Thursday, Ernakulam led the daily tally with 3, 872 cases,  followed by Kozhikode(3,461), Thrissur (3,157), Malappuram (2,985), Kollam (2,619) and Palakkad (2,261).

As many as 28,650 persons were infected through local contact. With the latest confirmation of 162 Covid deaths, the total number of fatalities due to the pandemic has crossed the 20,000-mark (20,134).

There were 346 wards with Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) over 8. The minister asked those in home quarantine not to venture out of their rooms.

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