This story is from May 29, 2020

Kerala did not defy ICMR guidelines, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Kerala did not defy ICMR guidelines, says CM Pinarayi Vijayan
Pinarayi Vijayan
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said a decision has been taken to conduct tests on persons who exhibit influenza-like illness; based on Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) directive. "The state has been following the guidelines issued by ICMR and at no point the state has defied it. The Centre and ICMR had appreciated the works of the state government many times and had even urged other states to emulate Kerala model," said the chief minister.

There were criticisms that Kerala is covering up facts. This argument is baseless. No one can cover up cases or deaths. ICMR itself has approved the fact that Kerala is one among the states in the country where disease spread through contacts is very less, he added.
Even the death rate is very low compared to other states. The death rate of the state is 0.5% while the national average is 2.89%. The Centre has even approved that Kerala is one among the state in the country where the discharge rate is also very impressive.
"Centre must have criticized the states for not effectively tackling the situation. But, in that, Kerala should not be counted," said the chief minister while commenting on the criticisms against the state government.
On the testing front, Kerala had never purposefully brought down the number of sample testing. We wanted to carry out antibody tests in a larger community and the test kits were supplied by ICMR. But, ICMR itself urged the state not to use the kits due to quality issues, he said.
Now, the state is doing sentinel surveillance to ascertain whether there is a community spread in any area. Till date, this surveillance has not shown any hints of community spread. But we cannot say tomorrow, a community spread will not happen, he added.
"The present situation is that the number of cases is increasing but among the persons who have come from outside the state. There is no increase in the cases through contacts within the state. Hence, we can say we are safe now and there is no need for undue worry. But, the situation can change anytime. For this, continued vigil and extra caution is very important," said the chief minister.
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