New Delhi: After having good control during the initial phase of the coronavirus pandemic situation, it has now worsened in Kerala, Union Health Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan said on Sunday.
“I would say other states should learn a lesson from Kerala. All states need to be careful during the upcoming festival season,” Vardhan said while responding to social media interactors during the sixth episode of Sunday Samvaad.
While offering his sincere wishes for Navaratri, he urged his followers to honor the prime minister’s call to Jan Andolan and religiously follow appropriate COVID behavior. He reiterated his request to everyone to celebrate at home with their loved ones in the traditional way. “This holiday season, charity should take precedence over celebration. My own celebrations will also remain subdued due to the heartbreaking impact of Covid-19 on thousands of crown warriors around the world fighting for us, “stated the Union Health Minister.
Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared his views on the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Kerala. Noting that between January 30 and May 3, Kerala had reported only 499 cases and 2 deaths due to COVID-19, he regretted that Kerala was paying the price for gross negligence during the recent Onam festivities when the state unlocking of services, along with an increase in interstate and intrastate travel for commerce and tourism, led to the spread of Covid-19 cases in several districts. “Kerala’s Epicurve changed completely due to Onam festivities across the state, new daily cases almost doubled,” he said. The minister said that this should serve as a good lesson for the entire state government that was negligent in planning the festival. season.
Kerala’s Covid-19 case burden soared to 9,016 on Saturday, bringing the infection count to 3,32,228 as the figure reached 1,139 with 26 more deaths. In the past 24 hours, 52,067 were analyzed samples and 7,991 tested negative, bringing recoveries so far to 2,36,989, Health Minister KK Shailaja had said in a press release. The number of active cases reached 96,004. Three districts counted more than 1,000 cases, with Malappuram registering 1,519, Thrissur 1,109 and Ernakulam 1,022. While Kozhikode reported 926 cases, Thiruvananthapuram had 848. With the addition of 26 more deaths, the number of victims increased to 1,139.
On China’s claim that the novel coronavirus broke out simultaneously in multiple countries last year, Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared that “there is no evidence that can validate the claims about the global multiple focal point for the novel coronavirus outbreak.” He said that Wuhan, China remains recognized as the world’s first report.
Responding to a question about the discrepancy in the number of Covid-19 deaths in India, Dr. Harsh Vardhan shared that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has addressed the issue of correct certification of Covid-19 deaths with all states and UT in multiple instances. and it has also shared a proper death reporting modality with them to ensure consistency in reporting Covid-19 related deaths across India.
The minister assured that there is no shortage of medical oxygen and that India’s current oxygen production capacity is around 6,400 MT / day. The government is willing to expand production capacity to cope with any increase in demand arising from the pandemic, he said.
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