The second wave of coronavirus in India has started waning, and in the last 24 hours, the country witnessed 41,506 fresh cases and 895 deaths. However, test results coming out from Kerala is still alarming, and it strongly indicates that the state is choking with the rising number of fresh infections and mounting deaths. In the last 24 hours, the state reported 12,220 fresh coronavirus cases and 97 Covid-related deaths.
Kerala fails in Covid battle
Post the legislative assembly elections, the state government has imposed a statewide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. While locking down the state, the daily test positivity rate (TPR) was above 25 percent, and by the end of the statewide lockdown, it got plummeted to 10 percent. However, even now, the TPR in Kerala is above 10, a clear indication that the pandemic is still spreading like wildfire in this southern state.
A few weeks back, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in his routine 6 PM press conference had revealed that the government is trying its best to bring down the test positivity rate to below 10 percent. However, the TPR is not showing any signs of lowering, and according to the latest updates, 3,86,877 people are currently under observation in the state.
In Kerala, there are 86 local bodies where the TPR is below five percent; 382 local bodies with TPR between five to 10 percent, 370 local bodies with TPR between 10 to 15 percent, and 196 local bodies with TPR above 15 percent.
Delhi winning the Covid battle
As Kerala is losing its battle against Covid, reports from Delhi suggest that the region has successfully combated the coronavirus pandemic. In the last 24 hours, Delhi witnessed only 53 fresh Covid cases, and the test positivity rate has plummeted to 0.07 percent.
In the meantime, Goa has extended the statewide curfew to combat Covid until July 19, 2021, with further relaxations that will allow the opening of gyms with 50 percent capacity.
