The Centre has a new headache as far as the battle against Covid-19 is concerned. Kerala on Wednesday recorded 22,056 new confirmed cases of infection, along with 131 more Covid-related deaths, which is more than 50 per cent of the total fresh cases in the country. India reported 43,654 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, as compared to 29,689 daily cases on Tuesday.
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) has also expressed concern at the surge in new cases in Kerala.
According to the ministry, Kerala accounts for 145,876 of the total 3,99,436 active cases in the country as of 28 July.
As per a report by India Today, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has written a letter to the Principal Secretary of the Department of Health and Family Welfare, Kerala, in this regard. Citing the feedback of the Central team that visited Kerala from 5-9 July, Bhushan wrote that Kerala needs to “do more” in terms of containment.
The Union Health Secretary also expressed concern about non-adherence to Covid-appropriate behaviour among migrant workers in Kerala. Some Covid patients refuse to get themselves admitted to isolation centres, Bhushan emphasised.
More worrying is the fact that as many as 11 of Kerala’s 14 districts are reporting a positivity rate of 10 per cent or higher. Some of the worst affected districts in the state are Malappuram (3931), Thrissur (3005), Kozhikode (2400), Ernakulam (2397), Palakkad (1649), Kollam (1462), Alappuzha (1461), Kannur (1179), Thiruvananthapuram (1101) and Kottayam (1067).
Given the massive surge in Covid cases in the state, sources say that another Central team will be sent to Kerala in the next few days to gauge the situation. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) is also expected to hold a meeting with the chief secretaries of both Kerala and Maharashtra to discuss measures to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Another region which has witnessed a sharp surge in Covid cases is the Northeast. Meghalaya, Manipur, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura and Assam account for 13 of the 22 districts of concern owing to the sharp surge in Covid cases, a source in the Union Health Ministry said.
AIIMS Director Dr Randeep Guleria was earlier quoted as saying that people in the Northeast had “little immunity and as we opened up, infection travelled to this region”.
Meanwhile, while India reported 43,654 fresh Covid-19 cases, it also saw 640 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Union Health Ministry. As per the Ministry, the active caseload of India is 3,99,436, and the daily positivity rate is 2.51 per cent. 41,678 recoveries were also reported in the last 24 hours. With this, the cumulative recoveries are now 3,06,63,147 with a 97.39 per cent recovery rate. Total deaths recorded in India are 4,22,022.
The ministry also informed that 44,61,56,659 Covid vaccine doses have been administered under the Nationwide Vaccination Drive so far, and 46.09 crore Covid tests have also been conducted.