Amid mounting Covid-19 cases and a sharp rise in the test positivity rate, Kerala Prime Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and medical experts on Tuesday battled control measures for the pandemic in the state.
While the CM maintained that the state’s Covid-19 control measures have paid dividends, experts want the government to streamline its plans and involve more professionals in fighting the pandemic. They warned the government that Covid-19 cases may peak later this month and that the state needs more restrictions to deal with the situation and more tests. They said the government was developing policies as suggested by the bureaucracy without consulting medical experts.
Statistics from the Union Ministry of Health show that after Maharashtra and Karnataka, Kerala has the highest active cases (87,738) and the test positivity rate has risen to 13.01 while the national average is 8.3. The state also has the maximum number of new cases per million. But the CM brushed aside criticism, saying the state has the lowest death rate in the country, 0.36%, while the national average is 1.55%. He also strongly criticized the chapter of the Kerala Indian Medical Association, which previously said that “the state health system was weak without in-depth study and proper management.”
“We are making suggestions to improve the system and minimize damage. But the government is taking them personally and is targeting those who criticize it. It is not a healthy trend. You should see the writing on the wall and redraw your strategies accordingly. This is not the time for publicity stunts, ”wrote on Facebook Dr. SS Lal, a medical expert who returned to the United States, criticizing what he called the government’s intolerance.
After making some comments, the health minister, KK Shailaja, rebuked him saying that the state has better health records than the United States.
“Currently 80% of ICUs are occupied. And government hospitals are driving away non-Covid-19 patients. The bureaucracy is formulating policies that bypass public health experts and others, ”said Dr. Abraham Varghese, President of IMA. But the CM responded by saying that IMA was just a commercial team of doctors, not a body of experts.
Meanwhile, the state reported 7,871 new cases bringing the total to 2,42,779. Active cases now number 87,738 and 1,54,092 patients have been recovered. With 25 deaths, the figure has risen to 885. Among those infected are 111 health workers.
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