Kerala maintains it has flattened the coronavirus curve

Thiruvananthapuram, May 9 () Kerala on Saturdaycontinued to maintain that it flattened the coronavirus curve,with just two fresh cases of expatriates being reported and 16active cases remaining in hospitals.

"On the 100th day of confirmation of the first case ofCOVID, Kerala flattened the curve.

Only 16 active cases remain in hospitals.

We are bracing ourselves for the 3rd wave," state FinanceMinister Isaac had tweeted earlier in the day.

The two cases were those who returned from Dubai and AbuDhabi on May 7 and were among expatriates airlifted by theCentre as part of its mission to bring back stranded Indiansabroad.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had on Friday said thatKerala had flattened the curve, but cautioned that the stateneeded to be careful to avoid another wave of the deadlyvirus, but asserted it was ready to fight it in such an event.

Vijayan on Saturday told reporters after the dailyevaluation meet on COVID-19 that with the two new patients,the total number of cases in the state has gone up to 505 andthere are currently 17 under treatment. "One patient from Idukki, who was under treatment, hasbeen cured today. The two new cases are now under treatment inKochi and Kozhikode.

They reached the state on May 7 in the Abu Dhabi-Kochiand Dubai-Kozhikode flights respectively," Vijayan said.

With the return of expatriates and also Keralites fromother states, the number of people under surveillance has goneup to 23,930, of whom 334 are isolated at hospitals, he said.

The Chief Minister said 485 of the total of 505 infectedpeople in the state had been cured.

"The new cases being reported is a warning to thosecoming back from abroad and other states to be on the alert.We need to strengthen our mitigation efforts and preventivemeasures," Vijayan said.

The Chief Minister reiterated that entry passes aremandatory to enter Kerala through check posts borderingneigbouring states and those without it would be sent back. Those wishing to come to Kerala shouldregister through theCovid Jagratha Portal and start their journey only aftergetting the pass, he said.

"The pass is mandatory. Based on logistics and for crowdcontrol,there is a limit on the number of people who can crossthe border every day and passes are being issued according tothat, Vijayan said.

He said there were some people who had reached theborders without necessary documents and it was not acceptable.

Till now, 54,262 passes have been issued and so far,21,812 Keralites from other states have reached back homethrough five border check posts Vijayan also said that special non-stop trains would berun from Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai to the State, to bringback the stranded Keralites.

"We hope that the first train will be from Delhi to bringback the stranded students there. The date will be announcedsoon," Vijayan said. The Chief Minister also said 152 expatriates from Riyadhin Saudi Arabia arrived at Kozhikode on Friday. Apart from 142Keralites, there were eight from Karnataka and two from TamilNadu. "There were 128 adults and 24 children, including 78pregnant women. Of these, 114 were sent home and the rest weretransferred to various Covid Care Centres," Vijayan said.

He said another flight from Bahrain to Kochi arrived onFriday with 181 passengers, in which there were 25 pregnantwomen and 28 children under the age of 10.

Three flights from Muscat to Kochi, Kuwait to Kochi andDoha to Kochi are expected to arrive in Kerala tonight.

The chief minister also said that as per therecommendations of an expert committee, people coming fromother states would first undergo a medical check-up and thosewithout any symptoms will be sent home for 14 days quarantine. "If they show any symptoms, a PCR test will be done andthey would be transferred to Covid hospitals," Vijayan said.

So far, 36,648 samples have been sent for testing, hesaid. RRT APRRAVINDRANATH APRRAVINDRANATH