Advertisement

Updated July 20th, 2021 at 19:53 IST

Kerala & Maharashtra receiving international tourists leading to rising COVID cases: IMA

IMA President Dr JA Jayalal on Tuesday claimed that the entry of international tourists to Kerala and Maharashtra was leading to a spike in COVID cases

Reported by: Vishnu V V
COVID-19
IMAGE: PTI | Image:self
Advertisement

Indian Medical Association (IMA) president Dr JA Jayalal on Tuesday claimed that the entry of international tourists to Kerala and Maharashtra was leading to a spike in COVID cases. As the country battles the second wave of COVID, the IMA president highlighted that Kerala's mortality rate was low compared to the national average despite a steep and steady rise in cases. As of Monday, Kerala recorded the highest daily tally of COVID cases followed by Maharashtra in second.

“Kerala & Maharashtra are receiving more international tourists & there's a lot of interstate movement. It's a major reason for rising COVID cases. Despite the rise in cases in Kerala, the mortality rate is much less than the national average,” Dr JA Jayalal said. He also added that the state is now facing crowding in marketplaces due to its lockdown methods.

Speaking about the lockdown norms taken by the Kerala government, Dr Jayalal said, “Kerala has intermittent lockdown, for 2 days in a week. It causes crowding in the market areas. Health department & stakeholders must come to a common ground to benefit both the parties."  The IMA president’s observations came shortly after the Supreme Court called out the Kerala government for relaxing COVID lockdown restrictions owing to Bakrid. 

SC slams Kerala govt for relaxing COVID-19 norms

The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, came down heavily on the state government after it allowed relaxations from July 18-20 on account of Bakrid. However, the Kerala government filed an affidavit justifying its order and claimed that the relaxations were given to traders as they have stocked up goods for the festival for a long time.

Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan had earlier released an order allowing various shops and services to function in the light of Bakrid. The government order allowed textiles, footwear shops, jewellery, fancy stores, shops selling home appliances and electronic items, all types of repairing shops and shops selling essential items to open from 7 am to 8 pm.

Observing the decision taken by the state government and comparing it to the early scenario of cancelling the Kanwar Yatra in Uttar Pradesh due to the COVID situation, the Supreme Court said, "We direct the State of Kerala to give heed to Article 21 read with Article 144 of the constitution of India and follow our orders given in the Kanwar yatra case. Pressurehood of any manner cannot infringe upon the most precious right of right to life for citizens of India, if any untoward incident takes place then any public can bring to our notice and action will be taken accordingly". However, it declined to quash the government order. Kerala on Monday recorded 9,931 new COVID cases with 58 new fatalities. The state test positivity rate was recorded at 11.08%.

COVID situation in Maharashtra

Meanwhile, Maharashtra recorded 6,017 fresh coronavirus infections with 66 new fatalities on Monday. This is the lowest single-day COVID case count the state has recorded since February 22. The state currently has 96,375 active COVID-19 cases with a recovery rate of 96.35%. The state’s fatality rate stood at 2.04%. Speaking about the COVID situation in the state, Health Minister, Rajesh Tope said that the government would soon quicken the vaccination programme in order to generate herd immunity among people. The state along with its neighbours have been reporting vaccine shortage from the start of July.

IMAGE: PTI

Advertisement

Published July 20th, 2021 at 19:53 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Mukhtar Ansari Death
a few seconds ago
US Federal Reserve
4 minutes ago
Team Legend
15 minutes ago
Brij Bhushan and Sanjay Singh
17 minutes ago
Mani Ratnam
18 minutes ago
Lok Sabha Elections 2024
22 minutes ago
The Surprising Benefits of Video Games Beyond Just Entertainment
23 minutes ago
Alia Bhatt
26 minutes ago
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo