The team headed by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director SK Singh will reach Kerala on Friday and visit some districts reporting a high positivity rate.
Image for representation
With Kerala reporting over 22,000 new COVID-19 cases for a third consecutive day, the Union government has announced that it will send a six-member expert team to Kerala. The team headed by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) Director SK Singh will reach Kerala on Friday and visit some districts reporting a high case positivity rate, the Health Ministry said in a statement. In a tweet, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, "The Union government is sending a six-member team to Kerala headed by NCDC Director. As a large number of COVID cases are still being reported in Kerala, the team will aid the state's ongoing efforts in COVID-19 management." The ministry's statement said that the team will work closely with Kerala health authorities, take stock of the ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the spread of the virus. Kerala on July 29 logged 22,064 new COVID-19 cases and 128 deaths, taking the active number of patients under treatment to 1.54 lakh, highest in the country. The state reported 22,129 cases on Tuesday and 22,056 on Wednesday. State Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said 1.63 lakh samples were tested in the latest 24-hour period and the test positivity rate was 13.53%. Currently, there are 4.54 lakh people under observation of which 27,480 are in isolation wards of various hospitals. There are 323 local self government bodies in the state with a TPR above 15%, an official release said. Meanwhile, researchers said that due to Kerala's steady R-factor growth, the state will remain in the top spot for the next couple of weeks vis-a-vis new infections. The R-factor indicates the speed at which the viral infection is spreading in the country and an analysis by researchers at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences in Chennai suggests Kerala has more worries in store. The smaller the value of R is, the faster the disease is on the decline. Conversely, if R is greater than 1, the number of infected people increases in each round, what is technically called the epidemic phase. Kerala has the highest number of active cases and continues to have an R-value around 1.11. "So looks like it (Kerala) will remain in the top spot for the next couple of weeks. The north eastern states continue to have a very bad situation with most states having an R-value more than 1," said Sitabhra Sinha of the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, who is leading the research team. Read: Why Kerala’s COVID-19 cases have not seen a rapid fall like other states Complete lockdown on July 31, August 1 in Kerala: Here is what is allowed
No comments:
Post a Comment