Kerala is likely to see many of its prior records fall, as the second wave of COVID-19 tears through the State. As the results of the augmented mass testing drive is beginning to come in, daily spike in new cases is seeing a dramatic increase, a sign of the immense challenges that the health system may be up against in the coming weeks.
With the State’s population remaining naive (the sero prevalence in January being just 10.8%), the second wave is likely to be intense and prolonged.
On Sunday, as the results of 1,08,898 samples tested in the past 24 hours came in, 18,257 persons tested positive, making it the highest ever daily case figure to be reported by the State. The test positivity rate remained a notch below Saturday’s rate at 16.77%. The cumulative case burden has risen to 12,39,424.
Nasopharyngeal samples had been collected from a total of 3,00,971 persons as part of the augmented testing drive conducted on Friday and Saturday. The rest of the results would be released in the next two or three days.
However, while an increase in tests will see an increase in case graph, by removing as many infectious persons from the community and isolating them, the State could slow down the current pace of disease transmission, it is hoped.
The State’s active case pool has swelled to 93,686 cases, just 4,000-odd cases short of the maximum number of patients the State had during the first peak in October last. Among this, 11,353 are admitted in hospitals.
Ernakulam district has the maximum number of active cases, with 14,472 patients, while Kozhikode has 13,389 patients. The active case pool is on the rise in Kannur with 8,642, Malappuram 7,790, Kottayam 7,478 and Thrissur 7,122.
However, the proportion of critically ill patients requiring ICU care has already reached the levels that were prevalent during the first peak. On Sunday, the State had 841 patients requiring critical care in ICUs, with the number of patients requiring ventilator assistance rising to 236.
The number of recoveries reported on Sunday was 4,565. The cumulative recoveries is 11,40,486.
The mortality is also on the rise, with 25 new deaths. The State’s death toll till date has risen to 4,929. Thrissur reported six deaths, Thiruvananthapuram five, Kozhikode and Kannur three each, Kollam, Kottayam and Malappuram two each, while one death each was reported from Alappuzha and Kasaragod.
New hospital admissions rose to 1,916. Total hospital admissions at present is 11,353. Another 26,839 persons were newly added to the pool of people on home or institutional quarantine. A total of 2,25,683 persons are currently on home or institutional quarantine.
Among districts, the case graph of Ernakulam is spiralling up, reporting 2,835 cases on Sunday. Kozhikode follows with 2,560, Thrissur 1,780, Kottayam 1,703, Malappuram 1,677, Kannur 1,451, Palakkad 1,077, Thiruvananthapuram 990, Kollam 802, Alappuzha 800, Idukki 682, Pathanamthitta 673, Kasaragod 622 and Wayanad 605.
