Union Health Minister writes to Kerala CM suggesting 'proactive' steps to control COVID

In the wake of spiked COVID cases in Kerala, on August 4, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said that the Central Government's team headed by the National Centre of Disease Control (NCDC) has returned from the gravely affected state and submitted the report too. 

Health Minister further informed that he has written a letter to CM Vijayan Pinarayi suggesting precautionary measures to curb the further spread of COVID-19. He also mentioned that the Centre has assured 'complete support' to Kerala. 

Taking to Twitter, Mandaviya shared, "I have also written a letter to CM Vijayan Pinarayi ji for taking more proactive measures and precautions to control the ongoing situation in Kerala. I have sought the State’s cooperation in managing the situation and have assured Central Government's complete support."

Centre sends NCDC team to assist Kerala in efforts to tackle COVID-19 

On July 29, the Centre had announced that it was assigning a six-member team to Kerala. Mansukh Mandaviya had informed that NCDC Director Sujeet Kumar Singh was heading the team. The decision to send the NCDC team has been taken so that it can aid the state's ongoing efforts against COVID-19. In addition, a complete lockdown has also been imposed in the state in the wake of rising COVID-19 cases. 

COVID-19 in Kerala

Kerala recorded 23,676 new coronavirus cases and 148 deaths on Tuesday. The total number of cases now stands at 34,49,149. 

According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George's statement, a total of 13,325 fatalities have been recorded till June 15, 2021. RT-PCR testing is mandated to record COVID-19 deaths, and it is totally up to the doctor who will ascertain whether the death is due to COVID-19 or not. Since June 15, the death count is being reported in a decentralised manner from each district, and all the data is uploaded to the state COVID list after being examined by the health officials.  The list of COVID-19 death is already available with every district health office and will be provided to the hospitals in each panchayat from where people can check the list. The committees have also performed to monitor the situation in the state. George added that the severity of the pandemic has decreased in the state, leading to a decrease in hospital and ICU occupancy.