Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala today reported 26,995 new cases of Covid-19, the highest so far on a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic last year. Briefing the media, Chief Minister Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “1,37,177 samples were tested during the last 24 hours and presently there are 1,56 226 patients under treatment. 28 deaths were also confirmed as due to Covid. Each day, the number of infected people is increasing drastically.”
The Chief Minister added that the State Government has requested the Centre for additional vaccine doses but there has been no response yet on this request. “We are hopeful but any delay might jeopardise the situation. In that case, the State has no option but to buy vaccines. We have initiated steps to procure the vaccines directly from the companies and negotiations are underway. An expert committee comprising of the Chief Secretary, the Finance Secretary and the Health Secretary will discuss the modalities and decide on the order.”
Kerala has 1.65 crores people to vaccinate in the 18-45 age group and the state plans to do it in 2-3 phases. Proper guidelines will be brought to streamline the arrangements. Those with other diseases would get priority.
Vaccination will be done with prior online registration only and this is mandatory for those going for the second dose also. Their scheduling will be done depending on the availability of the vaccines. As the number of cases increases, teachers have been assigned to assist the rapid response teams in local bodies.
All preparations have been completed to make the Thrissur Pooram exemplary in compliance with the Covid norms without the participation of the public. The government had conducted RTPCR tests for organizers and media persons attending/covering Pooram ceremonies.
The CM also informed that District authorities have been instructed to intervene to rationalise the treatment charges at private hospitals following complaints of overcharging. He also requested more people to come forward to join the Covid Brigade on a voluntary basis. This would support the healthcare system that is currently serving about 5 lakh people daily in the State. In order to ramp up the medical facilities in Kozhikode district, the PMSSY Block at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital has been upgraded to Covid Hospital. It has 160 beds in eight wards.
He also announced that an all-party meeting has been convened on April 26 to discuss the arrangements to be made in the coming days in the wake of Covid’s second wave in the State.