Thiruvananthapuram: The lockdown in Kerala has been extended till May 30 while the triple lockdown will continue in Malappuram district only. Briefing the media, Chief Minister, Shri Pinarayi Vijayan said, “The average test positivity rate for the last three days is 23.3%. While the TPR is more in Malappuram, it is decreasing in other districts. Active cases are declining in all districts.”
“Covid is still spreading. In the districts where triple lockdown was imposed, except in Malappuram, TPR has come down below 25% and the number of active cases has come down. Therefore, the triple lockdown will be exempted in Ernakulam, Thrissur and Thiruvananthapuram districts from tomorrow morning (May 22). Triple lockdown will continue in Malappuram while the regular lockdown will continue in all other districts”, the Chief Minister said.
29,673 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Kerala today from 1,33,558 sample tests during the last 24 hours. The test positivity rate is 22.22%. Meanwhile, 142 recent deaths were also confirmed today as due to Covid. This is the highest number of deaths to be reported on any single day so far taking the death toll in the State to 6,994. Presently, there are 3,06,346 persons under treatment in the State even as 41,032 patients have recovered from the disease today. Thiruvananthapuram district has the highest number of 4,151 new positive cases.
In the meantime, the priority category for vaccination of 18 to 44-year-olds has been reconstituted. Field staff in the Food and Civil Supplies Department, Food Corporation of India, Postal Department, Social Justice Department, Women and Child Welfare Department, and Animal Husbandry Department will be included in the priority category for vaccination along with Port employees.
The government is exploring the possibility of vaccine production in the state with the Institute of Advanced Virology examining whether it is feasible to open branches of vaccine companies on their campus. The CM informed that the experts in this field, the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment, and the scientists from the Institute of Advanced Virology, will conduct a webinar to reach an agreement on this.
The government will ensure the availability of medicine for the treatment of black fungus. The Kerala Medical Service Corporation has placed an order for 50,000 doses of the antiviral 2-DG drug for treating Covid.