Thiruvananthapuram: Amid the gloom caused by the second wave of COVID-19, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday cited certain numbers that bring some relief to Kerala.
The chief minister, in his customary sunset briefing on the pandemic situation in the state, said it was a matter of hope that the rate of infection and active caseload in Kerala have come down considerably in the past one week.
He said the average number of new cases was 37,144 during the week from May 1 to 8 whereas it has come down to 35,919 since the state-wide lockdown was imposed. However, the drop is not due to the lockdown. The chief minister attributed fall in the cases to the effectiveness of the night curfew and weekend curbs the state had imposed before the total lockdown. He also thanked the people's awareness and vigilance for keeping the infection rate down.
"The effectiveness of lockdown is yet to be assessed as the cases being reported now were infected one to one-and-a-half week ago. However, the numbers signal that the lockdown would be effective," he said.
He said there was drop of 10-30 per cent in the number of infections in eight districts, with Wayanad leading the list. However, districts including Kollam and Pathanamthitta witness a steady rise in the infections. Kollam alone witnessed a 23 per cent rise in cases, the CM said.
He, however, said the slight drop in the number of cases across the state was a matter of hope.
The active caseload has come down to 3,62315 from 4,45000, he said.
He said the experts have pointed out that the peak of the infection has passed, even though it is not a green signal for relaxing the restrictions.
