Thiruvananthapuram: The main lapse of Kerala in Covid control is its failure to effectively impose restrictions while implementing containment measures, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan has said.
While appreciating Kerala for taking many good steps to rein in the spread of Covid, he, however, said that the scenario of opening up everything without restrictions did not augur well at this stage.
Earlier, the main complaint against Kerala was that the state depended on more antigen tests instead of RT-PCR tests. He said that now Kerala's RT-PCR test rate was very encouraging.
As per the latest statistics, of the total tests conducted, 67 percent of tests were RT-PCR tests. Bhushan said the State Government committed a mistake by doing away with the practice of classifying places into various containment zones and strictly implementing restrictions.
Earlier, the Union Health Ministry had sent a letter to the Kerala Government, demanding strict adherence to central government's guidelines on the COVID-19 containment measures.
Central team visit
The central team would be sent to 10 States where the COVID-19 cases are still high and there are less number of tests conducted. The central team would reach these States in three days' time.
The Union Health Ministry is especially worried over the situation in Kerala and Mizoram. In both States, COVID confirmation rates are higher than that of the national average. The rate was 8.2 per cent in Mizoram and 6.1 per cent in Kerala in the last two weeks.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), special care should be taken at places where the TPR is more than five percent. There are nine districts in Kerala where the TPR is above five percent. In Thiruvananthapuram, it is 8.66 percent and in Kottayam, it is 8.26 percent.
Of the total cases reported in India during the last two weeks, 46 percent were from Kerala. The official assessment is that In Kerala, in every 10 lakh people, 1,274 people are diagnosed with COVID-19. But the figure is only 72 at the national level.
But, in the matter of COVID-19 tests, Kerala fares well compared to national average. About 19,894 tests are conducted for every 10 lakh people. Of this, 67 percent of tests are RT-PCR tests. At the national level, the rate of RT-PCR test is only 62 percent.
