Kerala set to tackle second wave of COVID-19, says CM Vijayan

As the country is witnessing surge in COVID-19 infections, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday assured the people of his state that Kerala is set to tackle "second wave" of coronavirus.

"Kerala is set to tackle second wave of COVID-19. Universal vaccination, specialised hospitals, enough ICUs and ventilators and adequate oxygen supply are essential in this battle," the Chief Minister tweeted.

Informing about the increase in the stock of oxygen supply, he wrote, "Increased oxygen stock per day from 99.39MT in 04/20 to 219MT in 04/21. Hiked production from 50L/min to 1250L/min."

On April 16, after a high-level meeting with Vijayan, Chief Secretary VP Joy said that they had decided to conduct mass testing of 2.5 lakh people for COVID-19 in the light of ramping up the process to curb the infection.

Earlier this month, Kerala Chief Minister had tested positive for COVID-19 on April 8 and was under medical supervision at Government Medical College, Kozhikode. He was later discharged from the hospital on April 14.

Kerala reported 9,318 fresh COVID cases in the state and 21 deaths in the past 24 hours, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare's data.

( With inputs from ANI )