Officials of the Health and Local Self-Government Departments in Kerala have been advised not to confine their vigil against active Zika virus infection and potential dengue fever cases at Thiruvananthapuram alone but extend it to the all other districts in the State.
Officials were given directions at a meeting convened jointly by the respective ministers MV Govindan and Veena George for a review. Vector control measures need to be strengthened at all places, fogging of the affected areas taken up in right earnest and required medicines supplied to all hospitals.
28 Zika cases so far
The meeting was told that the State has so far reported 28 cases of Zika virus after the first one was reported a week ago. As on Thursday, the number of active cases is eight, of which three are pregnant women. Overall, their health parameters are good and satisfactory, Veena George said.
The vector control campaign is focussed on exterminating the causative Aedes mosquitoes. With the arrival of the monsoon, there is a potential threat of a dengue fever outbreak. District Medical Officers have been directed to supply the local self-government body with a periodically updated list of hotspots.
MV Govindan said that the local bodies are being equipped to meet the challenge. Door-to-door awareness campaigns have been launched at the ward level. The meeting also decided to rope in the Education Department to include students into the campaign.
On the Covid-19 front, the test positivity (TPR) came in at 10.95 per cent, after a fleetingly brief dalliance with single-digit figure a couple of days ago. The State saw 13,773 new cases being reported on Thursday with 12, 370 recoveries. The number active cases persisted above one lakh at 1,25,742.
There are 205 local self-government body jurisdictions in the State falling under the worst TPR category of above 15 per cent; 362 with a TPR between 10-15 per cent; 384 with a TPR between 5-10 per cent; and 83 local self-government bodies with a TPR below five per cent.