Going From Bad To Worse? Kerala Recorded 17,481 New COVID Cases, Positivity Ratio Rises To 12%

For the second consecutive day this week, India's daily COVID-19 tally was above the 40,000 mark, with 42,105 and 41,383 cases respectively.

While in most of the states, the daily numbers are way below what can be described as concerning, things are different in a handful of others where the daily infections are still on the rise.

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Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Assam and Manipur are the only states that are currently recording more than 1000 new cases daily.

Kerala biggest worry

Out of these, Kerala seems to be the biggest concern, as the state alone accounted for more than one-third of the total cases in India.

Out of the 41,383 cases in India on Wednesday, 17,481 were from the southern state.

In fact, since mid-April only on a few days, on weekends when the number of tests carried out has significantly reduced Kerala has recorded less than 10,000 daily cases.

As of Wednesday, the daily test positivity rate (TPR) in Kerala stood at 11.97 per cent.

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According to a statement issued by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Malappuram district had the highest daily number of cases, at 2,318, followed by Ernakulam with 2,270, Kozhikode with 2,151, Trissur at 1983, and the state capital district had 1,166.

105 fresh deaths

There were 105 fresh deaths, taking the total death tally to 15,617. Across the state, there were 4,06,370 people under observation, including 25,054 people in hospitals.

COVID-19 cases in Kerala are showing an uptick amid the fears that a third wave of the pandemic is just around the corner in India.

The number of COVID-19 cases is rising again in Kerala ahead of the upcoming festival season. Onam, the biggest festival in Kerala will be celebrated next month.

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The Kerala government which is already under fire from the Supreme Court for allowing lockdown relaxations on the Muslim festival of Bakrid will have a tough time walking a tight rope, keeping the traders happy at the time to ensure there is no massive outbreak of COVID-19.

Businesses facing huge losses

That is because the traders who have been suffering losses for months now due to the prolonged lockdowns have threatened to defy the restrictions and open their business.

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On Tuesday, a day after it was pulled up by the Supreme Court for relaxations on Bakrid, the Kerala Government said that "no additional relaxations shall be granted anywhere under any circumstances".

As per the new guidelines, there will be a complete lockdown on the weekend, on July 24 and July 25.