Two weeks after Onam, Kerala has not reported an unforeseen increase in the number of COVID-19 cases like it was feared, said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Saturday evening press meet. In this situation, the Sunday lockdowns and the night curfews (restrictions of travel between 10 pm and 6 am) will continue in the state. Further updates on restrictions and relaxations will be decided next Tuesday. He also informed the media about the ‘Be the Warrior’ campaign, launched by the Health Department earlier in the day to fight the anticipated third wave of the pandemic.
Chief Minister Pinarayi said that the aim of the campaign was to reduce the severity of the third wave and also to speed up the vaccination. "Everyone must safeguard themselves from COVID-19. The campaign aims to ensure that everyone wears a proper mask, washes their hands frequently with soap, water or sanitiser, maintains physical distance and takes two doses of vaccine in order to fight the pandemic," he said after launching the logo of the campaign.
Saying that everyone is trying to live with COVID-19, CM Pinarayi spoke of positive observations such as hospital admissions for COVID-19 coming down in the days after Onam. "A comparison of figures between August 14 and September 3 points out that while the number of positive cases increased, those getting admitted to the hospitals have come down. In fact people admitted in hospitals for the infection have reduced by 5.23%. These are good signs," said Pinarayi.
More than 60% of the population have taken the first dose and 22% have taken the second dose of vaccination, said the CM.
Strict measures will also be in place to contain the spread. The CM said that cases will be registered against those who violate quarantine norms. "Police will ensure that those who are infected will remain in quarantine and also check whether people have facilities at their residences to follow room quarantine procedures. Or else they will be shifted to COVID First Line Treatment Centres," he said.
In the last 24 hours, more than Rs 15 lakh was collected as fines from those who violated COVID-19 health protocol and cases were registered against 9,614 people for not wearing masks. Kerala reported 29,682 COVID-19 cases and 142 deaths on Saturday.
(With PTI inputs)