Kerala must implement a strategic lockdown in order to control COVID:Centre

New Delhi: The COVID-19 test positivity rate in Kerala is high, exceeding 20% in some districts, indicating intense virus circulation, according to government sources on Wednesday, emphasising the need for strict containment measures and strategic lockdown to reduce the cases.

A government source said there is reluctance to impose lockdown and strategic containment measures to reduce transmission intensity, despite the fact that the small coastal state contributes to more than three-fourths of the country’s new daily COVID-19 cases.

With over 85% of coronavirus patients in home isolation, there is a greater need for stricter containment measures to be implemented. According to the sources, home isolation guidelines are not being followed properly in several areas, which is causing infection to spread.

The COVID-19 test positivity rate in Kerala is high, exceeding 20% in some districts, indicating widespread virus circulation. As the state follows home quarantine as the primary strategy, “wider containment and strategic lockdown must be implemented to contain disease transmission, particularly in light of festivals,” the source said.

According to experts, if Kerala implements strict containment measures, the number of cases will drop significantly within two weeks, according to the source.

Kerala reported 32,803 new Covid cases and 173 deaths on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to 40,90,036 and the number of fatalities to 20,961.

According to a state government release, the test positivity rate (TPR) was found to be 18.76% after testing 1,74,854 samples in the previous 24 hours.

So far, 3,17,27,535 samples have been tested using this method, according to the company.

It also stated that 21,610 people have recovered from the infection since Tuesday, bringing the total number of recoveries to 38,38,614 and the number of active cases to 2,29,912.