Kerala sees steep rise in new COVID cases in a week
Kochi: Within a week, new COVID-19 cases have increased 277 per cent in Kerala. Amid peak tourist season with Christmas and New Year just round the corner, experts fear that the number of cases may increase further and people need to be careful.
On December 16, Kerala reported 302 new COVID cases. A week ago on December 10, Kerala had reported 109 cases. Daily new COVID cases started to cross 200 on December 12 when the state reported 230 cases and within four days, Kerala reported more than 300 new cases. Along with the increase in cases, deaths are also slowly rising.
“Rise in cases is definitely expected because there is an increased movement of people and activities during festive season; but we don’t know how many are exactly infected because of the limited tests being done. Several non-COVID respiratory illnesses too are in circulation. To remain safe during such a time, people, especially those who are aged and with co-morbidities, should avoid crowded indoor activities and if they need to go to such places, please wear a mask,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, chairman, research cell, IMA-Kerala. The concern is that studies now show that the new COVID sub-variant JN.1 that was detected in an RT-PCR positive sample from Karakulam in Thiruvananthapuram on December 8 has acquired extra ability to evade human antibody response.
With COVID spreading quickly, an increasing number of hospitals are referring samples of influenza-like illness (ILI) cases, especially of the elderly and vulnerable groups, for COVID testing. Even the first patient, who was found to be infected with JN.1 sub-variant, tested RT-PCR positive on November 18, after patient arrived with mild symptoms of ILI. Patient has now recovered .
“On December 16, Kerala reported 302 new COVID cases and four deaths, the highest number of cases since May 15, 2023. As of now, there are 1,701 active cases in India of which 1,523 are from Kerala,” said COVID data analyst NC Krishna Prasad.
Treating doctors said that a majority of these cases are clinically mild and most patients recover on their own at home without any treatment.
Meanwhile, the ministry of health and family welfare organised mock drills in health facilities across the country to assess the preparedness of various hospitals.
Source – ETHealth World
