Covid-19: CM Pinarayi Vijayan lauds Kerala's low fatality rate and few positive cases

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state reported two Covid-19 deaths and 62 new cases on Friday but chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the recent spike in cases in the state need not be seen as a panic situation. "Kerala has the lowest test positive rate and case fatality rate in the country; there is no need for any concern,'' he said.
Joshy Mathew of Tiruvalla, who had come from Sharjah, UAE, succumbed to the infection at Kottayam medical college hospital.Jose Joy (36) of Chengannur, who returned from the UAE and was quarantined in Alappuzha medical college hospital, also died on Friday. His samples tested positive later. With these deaths, 10 people have died of Covid in the state, according to health ministry data.
Of the cases reported on Friday, 33 people had come from abroad and 23 people from other states. Two remand prisoners in Thiruvananthapuram, two cabin crew members of Air India and a health worker is among the new cases. One person was infected by contact.
The chief minister said only 27 of 355 cases reported this week were infected by contact. From May 10 onwards, only 65 of 644 cases reported were infected by contact.
"This shows that there is no community spread in the state. If there was any spread, the cases by contact would have surged. Among the present 557 cases, only 45 people got infected by contact," he said.
Vijayan also said only four cases were detected in the sentinel surveillance. Only 28 cases were found in the pooled sample testing conducted among high-risk groups.
"The test positive rate of the state is 1.7% as against the national rate of 5% while the case fatality rate of the state is 0.5%. The state has the lowest rate when compared to other states. We have tested 80,091 samples so far and it has been found that we get one positive case when 71 samples are tested," he said.
However, he said the situation was different in Kannur. The district has a higher average of disease (20%) when compared to the state's average of 10%. "We will have to go for some strict measures, including triple lockdown, there. Of 99 active cases, 19 got it through contact. More tests will have to be done there," he said.
14 of Friday’s cases from Palakkad
As many as 14 of Friday's cases are from Palakkad, seven from Kannur, six from Thrissur, five each from Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta and Malappuram, four each from Ernakulam and Kasaragod, three from Alappuzha, two each from Kollam and Wayanad and one each from Kottayam, Idukki and Kozhikode.
The total number of cases reported in the state so far is 1,150, of whom 577 are admitted to various hospitals now. Palakkad has 117 active cases, followed by Kannur (99), Kasaragod (64), Malappuram (56) and Thiruvananthapuram (41).
At present, 1,24,167 persons are under surveillance in the state, of whom 1,080 are admitted to designated isolation facilities. Till date, 62,746 samples (including augmented ones) have been sent for tests, of which 60,448 came negative. Besides, 10,635 of 11,468 samples taken from priority groups as part of sentinel surveillance tested negative. Meanwhile, the test results of 10 Covid-19 patients under treatment came negative on Friday. Five of them are from Wayanad, three from Kannur (including two from Kozhikode) and one each from Malappuram and Kasaragod. As many as 22 more hotspots have been declared in the state, taking the total number to 101.