Kerala records highest ever daily Covid count, imposes lockdown on Sundays

Mangalore Today News Network

Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 20, 2022: Kerala on January 20, Thursday recorded its highest ever daily Covid count as close to 50,000 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours. The daily test positivity rate crossed 40 per cent.

The state reported 46,387 fresh cases as the number of Covid tests done went up on Thursday. A total of 1,15,357 tests were done in the past 24 hours. The positivity rate stands at 40.21 per cent.

Thiruvananthapuram reported the highest number of cases - 9,720, followed by Ernakulam. Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kottayam and Kollam reported 3,002, 4,016, 3,627 and 3,091 new cases respectively.

As of now, there are 1,99,041 active cases in the state. Among these, only 3 per cent were hospitalised. A total of 32 deaths were confirmed and another 309 deaths were added as part of the reconciliation process underway in the state. The total number of deaths touched 51,501.

Among those who tested positive, 172 arrived from other states, 43,176 contracted the virus through contact. The source of infection in 2,654 cases was not known. A total of 385 health workers also tested positive.

Compared to last week, the number of covid cases has seen a 204 per cent rise. The number of people under treatment has increased by 201 per cent while the number of patients in hospital saw an increase of 70 percent. The number of people in field hospitals increased by 126 per cent and those in ICU went up by 48 per cent. The number of people in ventialtor support has gone up to 14 per cent and the number of patients on oxygen support went up by 64 per cent.

COMPLETE LOCKDOWN ON SUNDAYS

In the wake of rising Covid cases, the state government has announced more restrictions in Kerala. The next two Sundays (January 23 and 30) will see complete lockdown. There will be travel restrictions and only essential services will be allowed to function.

On Sunday, malls and theatres will remain closed. All classes will be held online. The classes for students of Class 10 and 12 will also be conducted online. There will be no classes in schools starting from Friday.

Each district administration can decide on new restrictions based on the number of cases. Religious functions can be held online. Restrictions on theatres and bars can be decided by respective district collectors.

Thiruvananthapuram, Wayanad, Palakkad, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts are likely to impose major restrictions including a ban on public meetings. In Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Kollam public meetings can be held with only 50 people in attendance.

Courtesy:India Today