Kerala CM applauds Kerala’s efforts for containing Covid outbreak

Thiruvananthapuram, April 20: Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today applauded the efforts of the people in the State in containing the outbreak of the pandemic. “Medical professional, Health care workers, Government officials, sanitation workers, and the general public, in fact everyone worked together to achieve the single goal of restricting the spread of the Coronavirus in the State. They deserve to be appreciated. But at the same time, we cannot afford to take a break. Any carelessness on our part might make the situation disastrous and beyond control.”

Addressing the media, the Chief Minister said that there was a phase when Kerala accounted for the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country but today we have the highest number of recovered cases. “Our recovery rate is the highest and our mortality rate due to Coronavirus is the lowest in the country at 0.58% as compared to the world average of 5.75% and 2.7% in India. For a State with high population density, Kerala has the maximum number of Covid-19 testing facilities. Kerala rolled out the first testing kiosk and is now ready for starting the plasma therapy trials, and is waiting for approvals from ICMR and Drugs Controller.”

It may be recalled that Kerala reported the first Coronavirus case in the country on January 30, in a student who had returned back from Wuhan in China. This was followed by two more students, both Wuhan returnees. The second wave of the infection hit the State on February 19 when a family of who had returned to Kerala from Italy tested positive. The number of new cases started increasing gradually as people who were coming to Kerala from other countries started reporting positive and this peaked on March 30 when the State had the highest number of 32 new cases being reported on a single day.

“There was a time when we thought the situation might go out of control. At one point, which was on April 04, we had the highest number of people under surveillance in the State, a total of 1,71,355  persons and today, it has come down to 46,323. The Kasargod district has in particular shown much resilience in fighting the pandemic in the last two months as the district had the highest number of 169 confirmed cases within the State. Now 142 have recovered and the rest 27 patients are on their way to recovery with no serious issues. The way Kasargod fought back should be a role model for the country”, the CM added.

The Chief Minister once again reiterated that there is no relaxation in safety guidelines during the lockdown period and the exemptions announced so far are in concurrence with the Central Government. He asked everyone to move towards more healthy and safe practices in our lifestyle. “The threat of Covid won’t go off immediately, we should learn new habits for the prevention of the infection and this should start from our children.”

Kerala Covid-19 Tracker

Six new cases & 21 recoveries, total 114 patients under treatment

Thiruvananthapuram, April 20: Briefing the media about the Covid-19 situation in the State, Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Six new cases of Coronavirus infection were reported in the State today, all from Kannur district. Five of them have come from overseas and one has got the infection though local contact. Meanwhile, the test results of 21 patients under treatment have come negative. 19 from Kasargod district and two in Alappuzha are those who have recovered.”

The total number of Covid-19 cases confirmed in Kerala is 408 and 114 patients are still under treatment in different hospitals across the State. 291 patients have so far recovered from the infection.

Keeping up with the recent trend, the number of people under surveillance has come down to 46,323. Of these, 45,925 persons are isolated at their homes while 398 are in hospitals. 62 persons were admitted to hospitals today. So far, 19,756 samples from people with symptoms have been sent for testing and 19,074 samples have tested negative with no infection.

“All those who are quarantined at hospitals will be tested and we plan to complete this testing in the next 2-3 days”, the Chief Minister added.

Institute of Advanced Virology, Trivandrum gets Global Virus Network membership

Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that the Institute of Advanced Virology (IAV) at Thiruvananthapuram has got membership in the Global Virus Network (GVN). This is the first institution in the country to get the prestigious GVM membership. This would give IAV access to the GVN’s researchers at 45 centres across 29 countries for detection and management of viral diseases apart from the exchange of ideas and resource material. 

The Institute of Advanced Virology at the Kerala State Council for Science Technology and Environment (KSCSTE) Bio 360 Life Sciences Park at Thonnakkal in Thiruvananthapuram was established, by the Government of Kerala in 2019.

The Global Virus Network is an international coalition of medical virologists whose goal is to help the international medical community by improving the detection and management of viral diseases. GVN is headquartered at the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine at Baltimore city, Maryland, US.

Minister of Health and Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja Teacher; Revenue Minister, Shri E Chandrasekharan, and Chief Secretary, Shri Tom Jose IAS were also present during the media briefing.

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