Covid-19 may peak in Kerala in September with 5k-8k new cases daily

Kerala Wednesday recorded 903 new cases of Covid-19 and six deaths due to the pandemic. But the capital Thiruvananthapuram continued to record high number of cases with 213 testing positive Wednesday.

Of the 903 new cases, a whopping 706 were through contacts, but the worry is that the source of infection among 35 patients remained unknown.

Thiruvananthapuram topped the Covid chart, Malappuram recorded 87 new cases followed by Kollam (84), Ernakulam (83), Kozhikode (67) and Pathanamthitta (54).

Meanwhile, the state’s Covid-19 peak may come in September with 5,000-8,000 new cases daily, the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) said in a report submitted to the government.

The health department estimates that there will be around 40,000-45,000 patients with mild or moderate symptoms, requiring regular monitoring, by mid-September. Around 3% of them or 1,500 persons may require ICU treatment.

Following this report, the government Wednesday changed the Covid care rules specifying that patients with mild symptoms can be isolated and treated in their homes.

But if the numbers of critical cases increase, there is a fear that the ICUs could be overcrowded, given that 13% of our population is aged and vulnerable with co-morbidities.

“The interventions being made now are key to ensure that the clusters are contained and the community spread is being slowed down by testing, isolating patients and restricting the movement of people,” a senior health official was quoted in ToI.

“The focus is now on superspreading events (and not super spreaders),” the senior health official said.