Three more COVID-19 deaths were reported in Kerala on Thursday, taking the total death toll due to the pandemic to 15 in the state. Meenakshi Ammal (73) from Palakkad, Shabnas (27) from Malappuram, and Xavier (65) from Kollam are the three latest victims.
Shabnas is the youngest patient in Kerala to die of coronavirus. She was under treatment for Leukemia.
Meanwhile Kerala saw 94 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the highest in a day so far. Among them, 47 cases are returnees from foreign countries and 37 are from other states. Thirty nine people have recovered from coronavirus in the state. Seven are infected through contact.
Kerala has recorded 1,589 coronavirus cases as of now, 884 are currently under treatment. The state has tested 99,972 samples in total; 17,065 people are under quarantine in the state; and 1,487 are in hospital.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister of Kerala Pinarayi Vijayan held a meeting with religious leaders to discuss about the opening of worship centers after June 8.
“Central government has clearly given direction to open worship centers after June 8. The meeting was held in this context. But the central government did not give any guidelines on how to open the worship centers. We are waiting for that," the Chief Minister told the media on Thursday.
He also said that though the Union government has given permission to open the worship centers, forming crowds was also not allowed.
“Religious leaders have agreed with the government stand that functioning of worship centers as earlier might cause a huge crowd and will cause spread of the disease," the CM said. He added that religious leaders have promised the state government that they would control the number of people coming to the centers and will also take all other precautions.
“Elderly people, children and people with other diseases will come to worship centers. Health department suggests that they should be in ‘reverse quarantine’ – they should remain home,” he said.
Pinarayi Vijayan further said that some statements recently have questioned the state government for not opening worship centers. “It was the central government decision to close worship centers. Not only worship places, educational institutions and training centers also remain closed," he added.
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