A National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) team visited eight districts of Kerala to examine the positivity rate and fresh Covid-19 cases in the state. The central team has projected that the state may witness around 4.6 lakh Covid cases from August 1 to August 20. Addressing the press conference, NCDC Director Dr Surjeet Singh said that unlocking activities and tourism is a matter of concern. Mr Singh said, “The current Rt value of Kerala is 1.12. Going by the current trend, it is expected that from August 1 to August 20, the state may witness around 4.62 lakh Covid cases.”
The team comprised former DDG Dr SK Jain, Dr P Ravindran, Dr K Regu, FR Pranay Verma, and Dr Ruchi Jain. The visited districts are – Alappuzha, Kasaragod, Kannur, Kollam, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Pathanamthitta, and Thiruvananthapuram.
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From the last seven days, Kerala has contributed more than half of the cases to the country’s Covid tally.
According to the findings by the central team –
Infection rate may increase despite vaccination:
NCDC director said that the state has reported a high number of re-infections even after both doses of vaccination are being administered and added that the investigation on it is underway.
According to the information shared, he stated an example and said, 14,974 people, are tested positive after getting their first jab of vaccine and around 5,000 people have tested after fully vaccination.
The positivity rate of the state is found to be more than 10 percent and in some districts, it was found to be increasing, according to the report by NCDC. The report further informed that there are around 80 percent Delta variant cases in the state.
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The rise in Rt value:
The Rt-value indicated the spread of Covid-19 infection in the state.
“Contact-tracing was found to be abysmally low – 1:1.2 to 1:1.7 and the Rt value, which was the lowest (0.8) on June 1, is continuously rising with a current Rt value of 1.2,” Dr Surjeet said, adding, “The current Rt value of Kerala is 1.12. Going by the current trend, it is expected that from August 1 to August 20, the state may witness around 4.62 lakh Covid cases.”
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The rising trend in Test Positivity Rate:
The test positivity rate was found to be ranging from 10 percent to 14 percent, whereas in some parts it even ranged from 15 to 20 percent.
Home isolation:
As per the observance of the central team, 80 percent population was in the home isolation but the cause of worry was, home isolation rules were not followed due to with intra-house transmission rate was high.
Dr Singh said, “The absence of compliance to home isolation of suspects or cases and quarantine of contacts resulted in the inability to contain the infection. Intra-house transmission was high, often leading to clusters.”
On Wednesday, Kerala reported 21,119 fresh Covid-19 cases, fatalities reported were 152. The toll of Covid-19 cases has reached 1,72,985. During the same period, a total of 18,498 people have been recovered from the virus. The test positivity rate of the state stands at 15.91 percent.