Kerala aims to vaccinate all eligible adults by September 30 as cases rise

Addressing the press after a COVID evaluation meeting, the Chief Minister said that only 2% of the active cases in the state during September 3-9 required oxygen beds and only 1% were admitted to the ICU. He said that 93% of people above the age of 45 received the first dose of the vaccine, while 50% also received a second dose.

“During the period from September 3 to 9, there were an average of 2,42,278 active cases in the state, of which only 2% required oxygen beds and 1% were admitted to ICU,” Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister said that in the districts where 80 percent of the population has been vaccinated with the first dose, antigen tests will be conducted for the purpose of treatment. “In such districts, RTPCR tests will be used to detect the infection,” he said.

Earlier today, the state government said it would impose stringent lockdown restrictions in areas with a weekly infection population ratio of more than 8%.

Chief Secretary Dr VP Joy said that DDMA would notify such areas on a weekly basis and would give adequate publicity through websites and other media.

The collectors will further notify the micro-containment zones and enforce the lockdown restrictions in them as per the extant guidelines. In addition, monitoring and strengthening of contact tracing and quarantine in all districts will also be done, the order said.

Today 25,010 new cases and 177 deaths were reported in Kerala. The state tested 1,51,317 samples in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate stood at 16.53%.

Thrissur reported the highest number of fresh cases today – 3,226, followed by Ernakulam at 3,034 and Malappuram at 2,606.