With spike in coronavirus cases, Kerala re-imposes Sunday lockdown
The southern state has been clocking more than 30,000 Covid-19 cases in the past few days with the Total Positivity Rate (TPR) has also crossed an alarming 19 per cent.
Owing to the spike in coronavirus cases, the Kerala government has decided to continue with Sunday lockdown. Earlier, an exemption was given for the same in the last two weeks. However, a soaring Covid cases have forced the state government to re-impose the lockdown.
The southern state has been clocking more than 30,000 Covid-19 cases in the past few days with the Total Positivity Rate (TPR) has also crossed an alarming 19 per cent.
With the rise in coronavirus case, the Opposition and public health experts have attacked the state government's alleged "carelessness" and "unwise" decisions for the spike.
Taking a serious note of the situation in Kerala, Union Home Secretary Ajay Bhalla on Thursday reviewed the situation and the steps taken to contain the alarming graph of the virus in the southern state. The home secretary reviewed the COVID-19 situation and the steps taken to contain the spread of the virus in the southern state and gave a number of suggestions, a home ministry official said.
Several top officials of the Centre and the state government had attended the meeting, which was held through a video-conference
Amid concerns of rise in cases in Kerala, the central government said the southern state is the only one reporting over 1 lakh active COVID-19 cases, while four states have 10,000 to 1 lakh active cases and 31 states have less than 10,000 active cases.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George, who reviewed the state's COVID-19 situation had also blamed the violation of home quarantine directives for the worsening situation and cautioned against the increased indoor transmission of coronavirus at homes. It noted that 58.4 per cent of the total COVID-19 cases last week were reported from Kerala.
The central government said the months of September and October will be crucial in pandemic management and cautioned that festivals should be celebrated in accordance with COVID-19-appropriate behaviour.
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