Weekend Lockdown in Kerala, 3rd wave scare amidst rising COVID cases

Kerala recorded more than 22,000 COVID-19 cases yesterday (July 28). Amid the unprecedented rise in numbers, the central government is sending a six-member team from the National Centre for Disease Control to the state.

Representational Image (Credits: PTI)

New Delhi: A day after Kerala recorded more than 22,000 COVID-19 infections, an alarming surge in daily COVID-19 cases, the state government imposed a complete weekend lockdown on July 31, 2021 and August 1, 2021. Amid the unprecedented rise in cases, the central government is sending a six-member team from the National Centre for Disease Control to the state.

“Government is sending a 6-member team to Kerala headed by Director, National Centre for Disease Control. As a large number of COVID cases are still being reported in Kerala, the team will aid the state’s ongoing efforts in COVID management,” said Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya.

Some of the worst affected districts in Kerala are Malappuram, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam .

Govt is sending a 6-member team to Kerala headed by Director, National Centre for Disease Control. As a large number of COVID cases are still being reported in Kerala, the team will aid the state’s ongoing efforts in COVID management:Union Health Min Mansukh Mandaviya

(file pic) pic.twitter.com/4raHrejdMQ

— ANI (@ANI) July 29, 2021

Additionally, according to the findings of a serosurvey by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), at least two-thirds of the population surveyed in 11 states were found to have developed coronavirus antibodies. This serosurvey was conducted between June 14 and July 6. As per the results,  Madhya Pradesh lead the chart with 79 percent seroprevalence while Kerala is at the bottom with 44.4 percent.

Meanwhile, Kerala on Wednesday recorded 22,056 new COVID-19 cases taking the infection caseload to 33,27,301, while over 131 more people succumbed to the virus taking the toll to 16,457. As many as 17,761 people have been cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 31,60,804 and the number of active cases to 1,49,534, a state government release said.