Kerala is in for major trouble as the number of Covid-19 cases are increasing by leaps and bounds, according to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Briefing the media about the situation in the State, Vijayan said a record number of 11,755 new persons were diagnosed with Covid-19 till Saturday 6 pm.

“Out of this, 10,471 persons contracted the pandemic through social contacts while 952 persons could not disclose how, where and when they developed this disease. The months of October and November are going to be crucial and critical for Kerala as we can look forward to further increase in the number of patients,” said Vijayan.

He also disclosed that the test positivity rate in Kerala was more than 10 per cent which would definitely lead to a situation where the pandemic surges ahead. The chief minister was apprehensive about the fate of students in the State and sought the service of teachers in ensuring that the youngsters do not get infected.

“It is time the teachers took time off from teaching assignments and instruct the students about the safety norms to be observed diligently to keep the pandemic away,” said Vijayan. The national virology institute conformed the death of 23 persons due to Covid-19 related issues.

Jayaprakash Valliathan, director of a major school in Central Kerala said he was totally against opening schools and colleges till the Covid-19 pandemic is subsided completely. “I am more concerned about the health of my students and teachers than the financial aspect.  I will not allow my school to be opened till I get an all safe signal from health authorities,” Valliathan, a veteran marine engineer turned educationist told The Pioneer. Six out of the total 14 districts diagnosed more than 1,000 new patients each on Saturday. Malappuram has 1,632 new cases while Kozhikode, the historical city, surged ahead to the second spot with 1,324 patients.          

The capital city tested 1,310 patients. The only news offering comfort was the number of persons got cured from the pandemic on Saturday-7,520.

Major cause of concern is the fact that Kerala has overtaken Tamil Nadu in all segments of the pandemic except in the number of fatalities. According to Government of Tamil Nadu’s release on Saturday, the State diagnosed 5,242 new patients and the total number of Covid-19 patients reached 44,150. Kerala has 95,918 patients under treatment in the State, a figure more than double that of Tamil Nadu.