Here are the top updates from Saturday:
1 . Minister Veena George said that the state is not yet free from the second Covid-19 wave and advised residents to be extra cautious against the spread of the infection to prevent a third wave, reported PTI. Kerala reported 20,624 new Covid cases and 80 deaths in the last 24 hours. This was the fifth consecutive day when the state recorded over 20,000 infections in a day.
2 . India recorded 41,469 new coronavirus cases in the 24 hours up to Saturday morning, pushing the infection tally to 3,16,13,993 since the pandemic broke out in January last year. This is nearly 6% lower than Friday’s count of 44,230 cases, which was the highest in three weeks. With 593 deaths, the toll climbed to 4,23,810. The number of active cases went up by 3,765 to 4,08,920.
3 . The center held a review meeting on the coronavirus situation in 10 states, reporting an increase in daily cases or a rise in the positivity rate. These states are Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Odisha, Assam, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, and Manipur government said. It told the states to impose stricter restrictions in 46 districts, reporting a positivity rate of over 10% in the last few weeks.
4 . Goa has become the sixth state to claim that there have been no deaths due to lack of oxygen during the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic in India. Earlier, the Centre and the five states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, and Bihar had made similar claims.
5 . The Centre also directed all departments to prioritize addressing Covid-19 public grievances and resolving them within three days, reported PTI.
6 . The overall Covid-19 seroprevalence in Tamil Nadu is 66.2%, reported The Hindu on Saturday, citing the third serological survey conducted by the state’s health department. The highest seroprevalence of 84% was recorded in the Virudhunagar district, followed by Chennai at 82%. The seroprevalence was more than 70% in 13 districts.
7 . The Karnata government made it mandatory for travelers from Kerala and Maharashtra to have a negative RT-PCR test not older than 72 hours if they are coming to the state.
8 . the Punjab government announced the reopening of schools for all classes from August 2 by Covid-19 appropriate behavior.
9 . Delhi Cheif Minister Arvind Kejriwal said that about 50% of the national Capital’s adult population, or 74 lakh citizens, have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine, reported The Indian Express. Kejriwal said that as of Saturday evening, 1 crore doses had been administered in the city.
10 . Globally, Covid-19 has infected 19.75 crore people and caused 42.13 lakh deaths since the pandemic broke out in December 2019, according to Johns Hopkins University.
Kerala is not yet free from the second wave of Covid-19, health minister Veena George said on Saturday. Therefore, she added that people should be "extra cautious" and vigilant against transmission of the infection to prevent a third wave from occurring, PTI reported.
At a special meeting held to review the state's preparedness to handle the third wave, George said about half of the population of Kerala was susceptible to the virus. Therefore, precautions have to be taken as the highly contagious delta variant has been detected, according to a state government release.
Requiring hospitalization would be high. Once vaccines are available in sufficient quantities, immunization would be carried out on a war footing, she said, adding that the health department was well equipped to handle the same.
Precautions should also be taken after being vaccinated, she said.
At the meeting, ensuring oxygen availability and treatment facilities in the event of a third wave was also discussed, the release said.
It was also decided to utilize funds available under central and state government schemes, Corporate Social Responsibility, and donations by voluntary organizations to set up oxygen generation units.
George directed the Kerala Medical Services Corporation to ensure that 33 oxygen generation units, which will produce 77 metric tonnes of oxygen, set up in different parts of the state, are made operational by August itself, the release said.
The minister also directed the department heads to ensure stockpiling of Covid medical supplies in medical colleges and other medical centers.
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