Lone fresh positive case, only 16 under treatment; Kerala has

flattened the curve, says CM

Thiruvananthapuram, May 8 ()Kerala has flattenedthe COVID-19 curve, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said asonly a lone case was reported on Friday and just 16 peopleremained under treatment for the infection in the state.

Vijayan also cautioned that the state needed to becareful to avoid another wave of the deadly virus, butasserted it was ready to fight it in such an event.

The state reported a solitary positive case, takingthe total to 503 while ten more people recovered on Friday,further bringing down the active cases to 16, the chiefminister told reporters here.

"Now, two months later (after second wave ofinfections hit the state in March), the curve has beenflattened. As we have completed 100 days since the country'sfirst COVID case was detected from Kerala, we have a record ofbetter recovery rate in the whole world," Vijayan said.

"It's day 100 of our #COVID19 fight. India's firstcase was reported here on Jan 30. Kerala has shown greatcourage & resolve. Fought 2 waves of COVID; and is ready ifthere's another one. Years from now, we should be able to lookback & take pride in how we responded to this,"the ChiefMinister tweeted.

The fresh case of Friday was a person with kidneyailment who came to Ernakulam from Chennai.

"All the ten recoveries are from Kannur. The totaltally of the cases in the state is 503, while 20,157 are underobservation, including 347 in various hospitals," he said.

The country's first COVID-19 case was reported onJanuary 30 when a medical student from Wuhan, the epicentre ofthe virus, tested positive in Thrissur.

The second wave of the virus had hit the state duringMarch when a three-member family returned from Italy.

With the start of repatriation of the stranded NonResident Keralites (NRKs), mainly from Gulf nations, Vijayansaid, "there is need to ensure that a third wave does nothappen in the state and all efforts are being taken to ensurethis."

"We need to be careful to avoid a third wave. In casethere is one, we are ready to fight it," he added.

Though the positive cases have reduced, there cannotbe any room for any complacency, he said.

Kerala has been earning accolades from many quartersfor the manner in which it dealt with the pandemic andrestricting deaths due to the virus to just three so far whilecontainingits spread.

The state has made elaborate arrangements to screenthe returning expatriates and put them under quarantine.

"As we completed 100 days in successfully fighting thepandemic, we are also welcoming our expats brothers. We havearranged all facilities to receive them. Our society hasbehaved in an exemplary manner in following the instructionsof the health department and we want to continue that tocontain the spread," Vijayan said.

The Civil Aviation Secretary had appreciated thestate's arrangements to receive the expats,he said.

Two flights from AbuDhabi and Dubai had arrived inthe state onThursday with 340-odd people, including 49pregnant women and infants, from the UAE.

A flight from Riyadh is expected on Friday with 139people, including 10 people from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.

At least,86,679Keralites stranded in other stateshave registered with the Norka web portal to return to thestate.

"Of this,37,810 (43.71 per cent) have registered fromRed Zone districts. Over 45,800 passes have been issued ofwhich 19,476 are from red zone districts," Vijayan said addingthat those who are coming from other states, must have thenecessary permission from that state and also register withthe Norka website in order to enter Kerala.

On migrant workers, he said tillThursday, 24,088guest workers fromBihar, Odisha, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh,Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal have left Kerala for theirrespective states in 21 trains.

The chief Minister also informed that the stategovernment has decided to appoint 3,770 temporary healthworkers in the health department including 704 doctors, 100specialists, 1,196 nursing staff among others.

Vijayan also expressed solidarity with a worldwidemovement on open source COVID projects.

"Many corporate companies are trying to develop cure,medicine and equipment for the COVID-19 pandemic and they willmarket it for huge price after gaining the patent rights. Analternate is being formed as part of an open source COVIDprojects to fight against it. Kerala expresses solidarity withsuch a movement," the chief minister said.

Meanwhile, 23-year-oldyouth, who reached Palakkadfrom Poondi in Coimbatore and was put under observation forcoronavirus, died early on Friday morning.

His samples are negative for the virus.

As of now, there are five positive cases in Kannur,four in Wayanad, three in Kollam and one each in Idukki,Ernakulam, Palakkad and Kasaragod. RRT UDSS