As Covid-19 continues to soar in Communist-ruled Kerala, the Gujarat government has decided to enforce strict rules against people arriving from Kerala. According to the reports, the state government has made it mandatory for all the people arriving from Kerala to undergo a thorough check-up for coronavirus symptoms before entering Gujarat.
Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister Nitin Patel, who is also the health minister, said that if a person is found to have symptoms, she or he will be quarantined as per the Union government’s protocol.
“Kerala’s population is four crores, less than that of Gujarat (6.5 crores). But that state recorded 30,000 coronavirus cases yesterday,” said Patel, adding that despite Kerala vaccinating a large number of people, a large number of people are contracting Covid-19 infection.
The Gujarat Deputy Chief Minister also said the government has directed the health department to ensure check-up of all people coming from Kerala for coronavirus symptoms. “They may arrive by train or flight or by any other means, they should be checked,” added Patel.
He has also asked officials to find out why there is a surge in infections in Kerala despite a high vaccination rate.
“Gujarat has also administered over 4.5 crore doses of vaccine, and we would like to know the scientific reason as to why people are getting infected in large numbers in Kerala even after being vaccinated,” Nitin Patel said.
Kerala – the epicenter of the Covid-19
Kerala is one of the two biggest epicentres of Covid-19 infections in the country, along with Maharashtra. In fact, Kerala remains the worst Covid-19 affected state in the country and continues to burden the country’s efforts in tackling the second wave of the pandemic even as other states have successfully reduced fresh Covid-19 cases.
For over a week now, Kerala has recorded close to 30,000 fresh coronavirus cases, along with over 200 deaths and a test positive rate above 19 per cent. With only 3 per cent of India’s population, Kerala now accounts for almost 70 per cent of all new Covid-19 cases. It ranks top in the daily number of deaths. The nationwide test positive rate is 2.4 per cent, while in Kerala, it is over 19 per cent.
In the last 24 hours, Kerala has reported 32,801 new cases, 18,573 recoveries and 179 deaths. With this, the total active Covid cases have now gone up to 1,95,254.
With Kerala reporting more than 30,000 cases every day on an average over the last two weeks, the total tally of Covid-19 cases in the state now stands at 39,46,307, the second-highest in the country after Maharashtra.
Kerala has recorded on an average 150 deaths due to Covid-19 in the last two weeks, taking the related death toll in the state to 20,313.
