THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The government has taken the criticism levelled against it over Covid care in the proper spirit, Health Minister KK Shailaja said here. She told reporters at the media workshop and launch of the ‘Back to Basics’ campaign of the government on Saturday — which marked a year since the first Covid case was confirmed in the state -- that pegging the test positivity rate around 10 per cent and mortality rate at 0.4 per cent was no mean achievement.
“People do not look at the statistics before levelling criticism. Our death rate was 0.5 per cent in the beginning. In June-July period it reached 0.7. We were able to save thousands of people who would have died due to the virus,” said K K Shailaja.
According to the minister, the state has formulated a clear strategy for effectively tackling the issue. It was after May that Covid cases began increasing in the state. With people venturing out of hotspots and marriage functions and other meetings being held, more people contracted the virus. There have been repeated calls for increasing the number of tests despite the number of tests currently being held,” Shailaja said.
Recently, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had issued directives to conduct at least one lakh tests daily, 75 per cent of which should be RT-PCR. The ‘Back to Basics’ campaign was undertaken in the wake of the recent increase in cases and the flagging interest in complying with Covid protocol which includes using masks and maintaining social distancing.
51 health workers test positive. TPR @10.51%
T’Puram: Registering a slight spike in fresh cases of Covid-19, the state recorded 6,282 positive cases with a test positivity rate of 10.51% on Saturday. A total of 18 deaths were reported taking the total toll to 3,722. Among the newly infected, one came from the UK and 18 came from outside the state. So far, 76 returnees tested positive and among them, 10 contracted the new Covid strain.
The results of 53 returnees turned negative for the new strain. Special arrangements have been in place at airports to screen passengers from European countries. As many as 71,469 people are under treatment for the disease. A total of 1,601 people were admitted to hospitals on the day. As many as 7,032 people recovered from the disease taking the total recoveries to 8,48,476. A total of 51 health workers also tested positive.