Onam 2021: Amid surge in Covid cases, Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Saturday asked people to avoid crowds and if possible, even events, celebrations during Onam festival. She also urged people not to visit relatives to reduce the risk of Covid infection.
Kerala has been reporting more than 20,000 fresh Covid infections for the last few days, highest by any state in the country. Fearing the further surge, the health minister said that people should strictly avoid crowds and follow Covid protocols while organising and attending events and celebrations during Onam.
The minister also said that if possible, people should avoid going to any events or celebrations. Visits to relatives and family should also be avoided as much as possible especially if there are small children in the family, George said.
For the fifth consecutive day, Kerala recorded more than 20,000 fresh Covid cases on Saturday. It, however, saw a decline in fatalities and a fall in the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) to 12.31 per cent.
The state had recorded 100 deaths on Friday, while the TPR was 13.61 per cent. On Saturday, Kerala registered 20,624 fresh cases, pushing the infection caseload to 33,90,761, while 80 more deaths took the toll to 16,781.
As many as 16,865 people have recovered, taking the total number to 32,08,969, leaving 1,64,500 active cases. Malappuram was the worst affected district, logging 3,474 cases, followed by Thrissur (2693), Palakkad (2209), Kozhikode (2113), Ernakulam (2072), Kollam (1371), Kannur (1243), Alappuzha (1120),Kottayam (1111) and Thiruvananthapuram (969).
Of the new cases, 98 are health workers, 112 had come from outside the state and 19,487 were infected through contact, with the source of contact being not clear in 927 cases, the release said. In the last 24 hours, 1,67,579 samples were tested and the TPR was found to be 12.31 per cent.
Earlier in the day, the state health minister said that the state was not yet free from the second wave of Covid and therefore people should be extra cautious and vigilant against transmission of the infection to prevent a third wave from occurring.
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