New Delhi: Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Wednesday alerted the people about the ‘super-spread’ of the Covid pandemic and said that the state is witnessing a third wave.
According to a report by news agency PTI, George was addressing a press conference where she said that both the Delta and Omicron variants of the virus are responsible for the daily surge, and in comparison to the preceding two waves, there is a rapid spread of the disease in the third wave from the beginning itself.
She supported her claim saying that if the range of spread was 2.68% during the second wave, it has climbed to 3.12% now and the next three weeks would be crucial for the state.
"Delta (variant) was the reason for more cases during the second wave. The third wave happened before it was completely over. Now, both Delta and Omicron are contributing to the surge in COVID cases," George was quoted as saying by PTI.
Speaking to the reporters, the health minister said that although the severity of the new strain is less than the Delta, it has the potential to spread the disease 5-6 times more than its predecessor.
Urging everyone to follow the Covid protocols seriously, George warned of stringent action against those launching false propaganda on the pandemic and vaccination through social media platforms.
Countering the claims of a section of people who are spreading lies such as Omicron is a ‘natural vaccine’ and that it is not dangerous to contract the virus, the minister said that whatever be the variant, the basic characteristics of the novel coronavirus remain the same and the people should be extra careful to keep the infection at bay.
She stressed the need of vaccination saying that the infectivity was very high these days as compared to the second wave. Five percent more cases are expected during the ongoing wave, she added.
Urging the officials to take measures to avoid cluster formations in their respective institutions, George asked people to avoid unnecessary visits to hospitals.
Rubbishing news reports stating that there was scarcity of essential medicines in Kerala, George said that the health department was fully prepared to tackle the situation and the slight rush reported by hospitals of late was natural.
There are 3,107 ICU beds in the government hospitals and 7,468 in private sector health facilities with 2,293 and 2,432 ventilator beds in both respectively, the health minister added.
About 99.8% of the adult population have already been given the first dose of vaccine while 83% have got the second dose. Apart from this, vaccination among children stands at 57%, she added.
However, the Congress-led UDF opposition alleged that both the government and the health department were at standstill when the third wave hit the state, and that a lack of preparedness and scarcity of essential medicines made the situation worse.
Leader of Opposition in the state Assembly, VD Satheesan said that the district conferences of the ruling CPI(M) and the events with mass participation such as 'thiruvathirakkali' triggered the rapid spread of the virus.
He also said that the Congress cancelled its pre-announced protest programmes realising the danger.
Meanwhile, Kerala on Wednesday reported 34,199 fresh Covid cases and 49 deaths, pushing the toll to 51,160 over the last 24 hours. A total of 8,193 patients recovered in the same period taking the active caseload in the state to 1,68,383.