Kerala district imposes seven-day lockdown from Wednesday

Commuters walk past as artists work on a mural symbolizing women empowerment outside the state transport bus station in Ernakulam, Kochi, Kerala state. (AP)Premium
Commuters walk past as artists work on a mural symbolizing women empowerment outside the state transport bus station in Ernakulam, Kochi, Kerala state. (AP)
 2 min read . Updated: 20 Apr 2021, 09:03 PM IST Staff Writer

In the highest single-day surge in the state since the outbreak of the pandemic, Kerala recorded 19,577 COVID-19 cases, including 66 health workers, on Tuesday, pushing the caseload to 12.72 lakh and active cases to 1.18 lakh, the state government said.

Lockdown has been declared in all containment zones in the Ernakulam district by District Collector S Suhas. This will be implemented from tomorrow at 6 pm for seven days.

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The night curfew imposed by the government to bring down the infections will come into effect tonight from 9 pm to 5 am. Ernakulam, where 18,850 people are under treatment for the infection, recorded the highest number of cases today-- 3,212, followed by Kozhikode (over 16,000 people under treatment) 2,341. Seven districts reported over 1,000 cases.

The toll mounted to 4,978 with the addition of 28 deaths. As many as 3,880 people have been cured of the infection and total recoveries have touched 11,48,671. The virus count has mounted to 12,72,645 and 1,18,673 people are undertreatment for the infection. This is the highest single day surge reported from Kerala since the outbreak of the virus, according to government sources.

The country's first Coronavirus case was reported from the state when a medical student from Wuhan, the sprawling capital of China's Hubei province, tested positive on her return on January 30, 2020 to Kerala.

Meanwhile, though the state is witnessing a steep surge in Covid cases, the government decided not to impose lockdowns during weekends for the time being. The decision in this regard was taken at a meeting convened by Chief Secretary Dr V P Joy. In areas where theTPR was high, covid tests would be conducted in all homes. It was also decided to conduct genome study on the virus mutant strains and work towards bringing down the TPR to below 3 per cent. As the cases were increasing, the state was equipped to handle any emergency situation and had enough Intensive Care Units CU and ventilator facilities, the meeting noted. DGP Loknath Behara said intensive testing would be carried out in five districts-- Kannur, Kasaragod, Malappuram, Kottayam and Palakkad, where the test positivity rate was very high.

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