Sharp Spike In COVID-19 Cases Forced Kerala Govt. To Impose Complete lockdown On July 31 And August 1

New Delhi: In view of sharp spike in COVID-19 cases Government of Kerala is forced to impose a complete lockdown on July 31 and August 1. On July 28 Kerala recorded 22,056 fresh COVID-19 cases pushing the infection caseload to 33,27,301, with the number of people who succumbed to the virus rising to 16,457 with 131 more deaths. According to a state government release, at present Kerala has 1,49,534 active cases and 16457 deaths have been recorded.

Kerala with an active case load of 1.54 lakh is contributing 37.1% of the total active cases in the country, with a growth rate of 1.41 in the last 7 days. Average daily cases being reported in the state are above 17,443. The state has also reported a high case positivity of 12.93% cumulatively and 11.97% weekly. 6 districts are reporting more than 10% weekly positivity.

Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare has decided to depute a high-level multi-disciplinary team to Kerala to collaborate with the State Health Authorities in instituting effective public health measures for COVID-19 management in view of the significantly enhanced number of daily COVID cases being reported by Kerala. The 6 member Central team to Kerala is headed by Dr. S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The team shall reach Kerala on 30th July, 2021 and visit a few districts.

The team shall work closely with the State Health Departments, take a stock of on ground situation and recommend necessary public health interventions to contain the large number of cases being reported by the State.