Thrissur Pooram can’t be cancelled, will cause problems: KK Shailaja

The Thrissur Pooram cannot be cancelled, Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja said on Saturday. She said there was a downward trend earlier during election time, and permission to conduct the Thrissur Pooram was also given considering the dip in cases 

Only those who bring certificates of having tested negative for the novel coronavirus or having taken the vaccination will be allowed in for the festival, she said. 

“Many preparations have been made for the festival, so it is not possible to cancel it entirely. It will cause many problems. Clear instructions have been given to conduct it with caution which the Devaswom committee has been agreed to. Even those who test negative should still wear masks, apply sanitisers and keep as much distance as possible from each other,” the minister said.

On Saturday, Kerala asked for 50 lakh vaccine doses from the Union government. The state has received 60,84,360 doses from the Union government so far and administered 56,75,138 of these, and said it needed the vaccine doses immediately.

The mass vaccination campaign of the state will suffer if more doses do not come from the Union government soon enough, said Minister Shailaja.

“Like the rest of the country, Kerala too has been seeing a sudden surge in cases since the end of March. We are trying to destroy this second wave by crushing the curve. We have amped up testing. Bulk testing – about 2.5 lakh in two days – is being done, giving priority to people aged under 45 who’ve had mass contact and those above 45 who have not been vaccinated yet,” Minister Shailaja said after a meeting with Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan. 

She added that as many as 1.39 crore tests have been done so far and the tests per million are better than the national average. “The death rate is also still low, at 0.4%. Other states reported not having sufficient hospital space or oxygen supply to accommodate all the patients. Because of diligent planning, Kerala is equipped with facilities for different categories of patients,” said the health minister.

A serosurvey conducted last month revealed that 11% of Kerala’s population was infected by the coronavirus. This required people to go back to the basics of breaking the chain using masks and sanitisers and maintaining physical distance from each other, the minister said.

The health minister said that as of now, Kerala is prepared to meet a surge in cases. 

“Asymptomatic patients who have facilities at home (a separate room and a toilet) will be quarantined at home. If there are no such facilities at home, the local self-governing body will arrange accommodation at domiciliary care centres. B category patients – with minor symptoms – will be admitted at district level COVID second-line treatment centres. The C category patients, with serious difficulties, will be treated at government hospitals. But we don’t expect many C category patients even in the second wave,” she said. 

Watch: Minister Shailaja addresses media 

Also read: Kerala imposes new curbs amid surge in COVID-19 cases