Negligence led to spike in Covid-19 cases: Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan

As Kerala struggles with a fresh wave of the coronavirus disease cases, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said there was negligence on part of everyone. There has been a steep hike in new Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks; on Monday, the state reported 962 new cases and two deaths.

Vijayan said there was strict vigil in initial stages and results were really encouraging but gradually people lowered their guard which resulted in big spike in cases. The CM said this while launching 100-odd family health centres across the state through video conference.

He later clarified that his criticism was not aimed at healthcare workers who are toiling day in and out but about the general perception of the people. Vijayan said it took more than five months for the state to reach 10,000 cases but less than three weeks to cross 25,000. He also took a dig at the Opposition saying it was more interested in toppling the ongoing drive against the pandemic.

“In first stage, we effectively dealt with the situation. After this, some sort of laxity crept in. Some people thought it is only the duty of the government machinery. This attitude cost us dearly,” he said. The chief minister said that those who violated quarantine will be dealt with heavily and police will be given more powers to deal with them.

But the Opposition said it was happy that the chief minister at least admitted to his lapses, even if it came at the eleventh hour. “When we cited pitfalls he said we were sabotaging the ongoing drive. The state’s testing rate is still poor,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala.

Meanwhile, Kerala reported 962 new cases taking the total to 26,872. Out of these, 15,282 have recovered and 11,484 are active cases. With two more casualties, the state’s death toll rose to 86 on Monday. There are 506 containment zones in the state and capital Thiruvananthapuram topped the list with one-third of the active cases.