Congress Urges Kerala Govt to Release Health Data amid Alarming Covid-19 Surge

A day after Kerala crossed the 24,000 mark in the daily COVID-19 cases after an interval, the Opposition Congress on Wednesday picked holes in the virus management system in the state and urged the LDF government to immediately release the health data in this regard. Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, V D Satheesan alleged that the COVID control system in the state has failed and wanted the government to revive its existing strategies and methodology for the disease management.

“Though the total number of COVID patients had crossed 38 lakh mark in the state, the government is still hiding the health data related to it. This will prevent evolving strategies to fight the third wave of the disease,” he told a press meet here. The lack of data analysis has seriously affected even the research activities in the southern state, the leader added.

Alleging that the contact tracing system in the state is a failure in finding out the infected, he said its ratio in Kerala is just 1:1.5, though at least 20 people have to be tested if a person is found to have been affected with the disease. Accusing the government of spending only Rs 29 crore for vaccines though a total of Rs 817 crore had been mobilised through vaccine challenge, Satheesan wanted the rest of the amount to be used to subsidise the jab in private hospitals. He also urged the government to increase the number of RT-PCR tests in the state, saying Antigen test is not reliable. Neighbouring Tamil Nadu is conducting 100 per cent RT-PCR while its rate is still below 30 per cent in Kerala, the opposition leader added.

“Earlier it was said that the COVID management in Kerala was more effective than other states. But, now, the state has the highest number of COVID patients in the country. The government is groping in the dark…They have no idea what to do to control the virus surge,” Satheesan added. Kerala reported 24,296 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, the second time it has crossed the 24,000 mark after May 26 when the state had recorded 28,798 cases.

On May 27, the state had recorded 24,166 fresh COVID-19 cases.