Kerala reports record 62 new cases in single day

Kerala on Saturday reported a record 62 novel coronavirus cases in a single day.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in his Facebook post that of the 62 new cases, 18 had returned from abroad, 31 from within the country, and 13 got the infection from secondary contacts.

At present, there are 272 positive patients under treatment across the state. On Friday, the state reported 42 new cases.

But senior Indian Medical Association office-bearer S.M. Zulphi said there was no need to worry.

"It was expected. The figure may go into three digits as a large number of people from abroad and within the country arrive in Kerala. The state is fully geared and has an excellent system of tracking and tracing. So, there need be no serious worries at all," said Zulphi.

Since May 7, hundreds of Keralites started arriving from abroad. By now, 7,303 people have arrived in Kerala and over 4 lakh others are registered to travel to their native state from abroad.

Around 78,000 of the over 2 lakh people who have registered for return to Kerala from within India have already arrived.

State Minister for Culture A.K. Balan said that everyone was aware that corona cases will increase once Kerala people start returning home and the only way to prevent the spread of cornavirus was to listen to advice of health authorities.

"Life has to go on and economic activity has to take place. There is only one way out listen to health authorities. We cannot always keep everything under lock and key; instead maintain social distancing and use sanitisers. Kerala did very well in the first two phases and now the cases will increase since people are returning. All people have to cooperate and adhere to protocols," said Balan, whose Palakkad district reported 17 positive cases on Saturday.

Meanwhile, Kerala Police chief Loknath Behra on Saturday launched a new campaign 'learn to live with Covid-19' using 75,000 student cadets as volunteers along with their family members. it includes post-card campaigns and handing out face masks to members of the public.

( With inputs from IANS )