The third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, spurred by the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 virus, seems to be stabilising in Kozhikode, if data released by the Health department are any indication.
According to the District Medical Officer, only 1,597 new cases of the infection were reported on Wednesday, when 6,304 samples were tested. As many as 4,450 people recovered. The active caseload is only 14,833, of whom 12,279 are under home isolation. A total of 610 are undergoing treatment in private hospitals, and 281 others are in government hospitals. Health officials claimed that 1,219 of the 2,071 beds were vacant in 60 COVID hospitals in the district.
A week ago, on February 2, as many as 4,602 people had tested positive for the virus in the district. The active caseload was 31,213. A total of 707 were in private hospitals, and 311 were in government hospitals.
Like elsewhere in the State, the number of new infections started rising in the district in the first week of January. From an average of around 500 cases a day, it went up to 740 on January 9. It rose to 1,164 on January 12; 1,274 on January 13, and 1,567 the next day. From then on, there had been a surge in fresh infections, and the daily test positivity rate soared to around 30%.
Public programmes were banned in the district on January 17, and the police swung into action to control crowds at malls, hotels, restaurants, and beaches. Simultaneously, vaccination was given a push, and those who had not taken the second dose even after the prescribed time were asked to take the jab. The drive to vaccinate people in the 15-17 age group began, and precaution doses too were given.
However, there was no let-up in fresh cases, as over 4,000 people tested positive for the virus on January 20. It went up to 5,581 on January 23. Though there were reports that several hospitals, including the Government Medical College Hospital, were facing shortage of beds, the Health department denied them all.
The district was included in category ‘A’ on January 27 where milder restrictions were imposed in view of the percentage of patients admitted to hospitals out of the total number of infected persons. Lockdown-like restrictions were in force on January 23 and January 30.
The number of fresh cases dropped below 4,000 after a long time on February 3 when only 2,891 people tested positive for the virus. From then on, there had been a downward trend. The fresh cases slipped to 1,612 on February 7 and 1,711 on February 8.
