THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In prompted by the rise in daily Covid cases in the state, the health department has made masks mandatory for people visiting hospitals. People with comorbidities, the elderly, children and pregnant women have been advised to wear masks in public.
For the past nine days, over 100 new Covid cases were being reported in the state daily. The per-day tally touched 210 cases on Wednesday.
The state had 1,026 Covid patients as of Tuesday of whom 111 are in hospitals. Three backlog deaths were also added to the state’s toll.
Health Minister Veena George, who held a review meeting on Wednesday, said wearing masks in public is important as the new Covid variant can spread fast.
At the review meeting, Veena asked all district medical officers (DMOs) to increase vigil and strengthen surveillance. The DMOs and heads of hospitals were also asked to prepare a plan to deal with the further uptick in cases.
State to strengthen genomic surveillance
Directive to reserve facilities in hospitals, including ICU and ventilators, for Covid patients, was also given. The Kerala Medical Services Corporation Ltd (KMSCL) has been asked to purchase more Covid testing kits and medicines.
“There is no rise in Covid patients admitted to medical college hospitals. We will strengthen genomic surveillance to identify new Covid variants,” Veena said, adding that the state does not have any Covid clusters so far.
The health ministry has identified Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Gujarat as states seeing a rise in Covid cases. Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan, in a March 16 letter, asked the states to take steps to contain with a five-fold strategy: Test, track, treat, vaccination and adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour.