Thiruvananthapuram: The COVID-19 tally in Kerala is racingtowards the 1.50 lakh mark as 4,125 cases were added on Tuesday, as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan blamed violent protests by the Opposition Congress led UDF and BJP outfits for having contributed to the spread of the virus. The toll climbed to 572 with 19 more deaths. Presently, 40,382 people are under treatment, 3,463 were infected through contact and the source of infection of 412 people was not yet known, Vijayan told reporters here. As many as 1,01,731 people have so far recovered from the virusand the total infection count in the state has touched 1,42,756, he said. Of the positive cases today, 33 came from abroad and 122 from other states.
In the last 24 hours, 38,574 samples were sent for testing. A total of 3,007 people recovered today, Vijayan said. The deceased today were aged between 30 and 86. Pointing out that the Covid situation in the state was grim, Vijayan said the spread of the infection was "extremely severe" in Thiruvananthapuram, where 681 cases were detected today. Though the cases were rising, the government had no plans to go in for lockdown again, he said. "Till yesterday the state''s active cases was 39,258, of which Thiruvananthapuram accounted for 7,047, about 18 per cent, while the death count yesterday was 553 and 175 deaths were from the capital district, that is about 32 per cent."
In this situation, the opposition parties were staging violent protests on a daily basis instead of maintaining social distancing,Vijayan said and wantedpolitical parties to behave responsibly and follow Covid protocol while protesting. The Congress led UDF and BJP outfits have been on the warpath ever since Higher Education minister K T Jaleel was questioned by central agencies over the gold smuggling scam and the alleged FCRA violation in accepting Quran brought from UAE for distribution as charity during Ramzan. Malappuram reported 431 cases, Ernakulam 379, Alappuzha 365, Kozhikode 383, Thrissur 352 and Kollam 341. Eighty seven health workers were among those who tested positive today.
At least 2,20,270 people are under observation, including 25,782 in hospitals, the Chief Minister said. In the last 24 hours, 38,574 samples were tested and so far 24,92,757 samples have been sentfor testing, including samples from priority groups as part of ''Sentinel Surveillance.'' This surveillance is to understand whether there is any presence of the virus in the community and test people with no travel history and symptoms.
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