Seven recoveries & only one new case today, total 167 patients under treatment

Thiruvananthapuram, April 15:  Briefing the media about the Covid-19 situation in the State, Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “Just one fresh case of the Coronavirus infection was reported in Kerala today while the test results of seven patients under treatment came as negative.” The lone case from Kannur district has got the infection through primary contact. Four patients from Kasargod district, two from Kozhikode district and one from Kollam district are those who have recovered from Covid-19 and tested negative.

Till date, there have been a total of 383 confirmed cases of Coronavirus infection in Kerala and 167 patients are currently under treatment in various hospitals across the State. 264 of the confirmed cases were people, who had come to Kerala from outside the State and from abroad, eight were foreign nationals and 114 were cases of local transmission.

The number of people under surveillance in the State has further come down to 97,464. Of these, 96,942 are isolated at their homes and 522 are in the isolation wards in hospitals. 86 persons were hospitalised today. So far, 16,472 samples from people with symptoms have been sent for testing and 16,002 samples have tested negative with no infection.

“In our country, the recovery rate is the highest in Kerala and 218 patients have been completely cured of the disease. There is good progress in testing and we are doing increased numbers now. But we cannot afford to give more exemptions and relaxations in the lockdown condition,” said the Chief Minister.

The CM informed that few more private hospitals in the State have offered their infrastructure including ambulances and manpower to be used as in the fight against Coronavirus, and for setting up quarantine facilities.

Kerala Government sets up Cancer treatment centres in all 14 districts, first in country

Thiruvananthapuram, April 15:  Kerala Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that the State Government is setting up 22 Cancer treatment centres across all the 14 districts in the State in association with the Regional Cancer Centre (RCC) at Thiruvananthapuram. This would enable cancer patients to continue their treatment during this Covid period. This is for the first time such an initiative for cancer care is being done in the country.

“As the immunity of cancer patients is less, it is not advisable for them to travel long distances for their treatment. Any exposure to the Coronavirus infection would have serious repercussions on their health. These Cancer treatment centres would benefit them immensely”, said the Chief Minister.

The medical services department has taken this initiative on the advice of the Chief Minister considering the continuation of the Covid situation. The Cancer treatment centres would be based at the District Hospitals and General Hospitals in the districts.  

Minister for Health and Social Justice, Smt K K Shailaja Teacher said, “Right now we are setting up these Cancer treatment centres with the assistance of RCC, Thiruvananthapuram. We will take the help and support of other regional cancer centres to expand this service to other areas in the future.”

Cancer patients from all across Kerala usually undergo their treatment at the RCC at Thiruvananthapuram. Now they would be able to continue their follow-up treatments including chemotherapy at their nearest Cancer treatment centres. Their medical records at RCC would be handed over to these Cancer treatment centres. The Doctors from RCC would provide their services to these Cancer treatment centres through teleconferencing. Patients would need to take a prior appointment at these centres to avoid crowding.

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