A test positivity rate of around 13% and daily deaths rising even as other states have contained the virus has crushed Kerala. The regime is in denial and is now fudging numbers for its PR campaigns. The recent decision to reverse lockdown for three days during Bakra Eid has only helped the virus spread.
There are around 20,000 breakthrough cases in the Pathanamthitta district, severe cases in patients who have received one dose of vaccine or both. A similar rise is being reported from Thiruvanthapuram too. Around 20,000 daily new infections are being reported every day for several weeks even after the ‘second wave’ officially abated in almost the rest of the country.
Bharat recorded 38,628 new cases yesterday of which 19,948 came from Kerala followed by Maharashtra with 5,539 cases. The last week of July saw Kerala report 24 deaths per million per week, while Maharashtra came second with 12 deaths per million per week, followed by Odisha’s 9 deaths per million per week. India’s average is about 2 deaths per million per week.
Kerala now accounts for the highest number of deaths daily, and the rising mortality rate is a matter of grave concern. It consistently reports around 50% of new cases and 25% of the countrywide death toll. Yesterday, Health Minister Veena George said that 90% of the new cases were infected by the Delta variant that spreads quickly. She said she expects a two-fold increase in positive cases in the coming days!
Malappuram district now reports the highest daily cases and a test positivity rate of 18%. Government websites confirm that ventilator beds in both private and government hospitals are now full. The situation remains the same all over north Kerala and is now a crisis waiting to explode.
The Kerala Police have taken this as an opportunity and are penalizing citizens who are suffering from biased lockdowns. They openly abuse and fine both the young and the old. They target small vendors and ruthlessly destroy stocks. They even fined an old man Rs.2,000/- who had gone to cut grass for his cow. Police penalize four people calling it a crowd while hundreds gather at government-run liquor shops uninterrupted. It is being reported that the regime has given them ‘targets’ for collecting fines.
The Supreme Court that allowed unrestricted Bakra Eid celebrations to happen has now gone silent. The court had earlier said that if Eid celebrations lead to any “untoward spread of COVID-19 disease”, action will be taken against those responsible. It now seems the situation has gone out of control and the SC doesn’t care.
When the communist regime messes up things badly, its PR team and the media gang up with stories about the complexity of covid in the state. The same media wait to pounce on the central government for far lesser mistakes. Suicides have increased and at least 2 dozen have taken their lives as a consequence of such biased covid restrictions in the state. The opposition staged a walkout mentioning the rise in suicides recently but that followed the suicide of twin Muslim brothers.
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