Covid-19 crisis deepens in Kerala; positivity rate nears 30%

A woman puts a mask to her husband while waiting for vaccination against Covid-19, in Kochi, Saturday, May 8, 2021. Credit: PTI Photo

Despite the lockdown, Kerala continues to register spiralling Covid-19 cases, with the test positivity rate reaching the highest ever rate of 29.75 per cent on Wednesday.

With 43,529 fresh positive cases, the total active cases reached over 4.3 lakh. The state saw record daily fatalities of 95 deaths on Wednesday.

Also read: India’s new Covid-19 cases have peaked, Cambridge tracker shows

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that he has urged the centre to provide more vaccines to the state at the earliest as those aged above 45 need to be vaccinated swiftly to keep the death rate low.

Fresh norm for entering Kerala

The state decided that those coming from other states to Kerala should carry an RT- PCR negative certificate taken within 72 hours before the start of the journey. The lockdown imposed in the state till May 16 is likely to be extended further.

In view of the delay in getting the RT-PCR test owing to the high number of tests, the state also decided to conduct RT-PCR tests only to those tested negative in antigen tests and showing symptoms of Covid. This is in accordance with ICMR’s new guidelines, the Chief Minister said.

Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks