Even as the number of positive cases of COVID-19 seems to be stabilising in the State, there is no way the State can let-up on either the vigil or the massive level of preparedness that has been going on to meet the worst that the pandemic might bring, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has said.
The State’s surveillance, testing, and preparations would continue at the same pace regardless of the COVID-19 case numbers as the pandemic has so many unknowns and no health system could afford to be caught by surprise, he said while briefing media here on Wednesday.
New cases
Nine new positive cases of COVID-19 were reported on Wednesday in the State.
Four of these cases were people who returned to the State from abroad, two cases were linked to the Tablighi Jamaat meeting at Nizamuddin and rest are contacts of imported cases of infection.
Of the nine new cases, four are located in Kannur, two in Alappuzha and one each in Kasaragod, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur.
212 visited Nizamuddin
Mr. Vijayan said that 212 persons had travelled to Nizamuddin from the State, out of whom 15 had so far turned out to be COVID-19 positive. The total number of cases reported so far in the State is 345, while 259 are currently under treatment at various hospitals.
The test results of 13 patients who were under treatment had turned negative on Wednesday.
The number of persons kept under surveillance in the State has now come down to 1,40,474. Among them, 749 are in isolation rooms in various hospitals and the rest are in home quarantine.
Testing kits
Mr. Vijayan said there would be no situation of a shortage of testing kits in the State, with 20,000 kits supplied by the ICMR reaching the State on Thursday.
The State was also going ahead with the identification of as many isolation rooms as possible should there be a spurt in the number of cases.
The Public Works Department had identified 1,73,000 isolation beds in its facilities, out of which, 1,10,000 were ready for use, Mr. Vijayan said.