Senior Congress leader and former Kerala Oommen Chandy tested positive for Covid-19 on Thursday evening. The news broke hours after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan tested positive for the virus.
According to reports, Chandy (77) has fever for two days and was resting at home. Doctors advised the senior Congress leader to get hospitalized. Initially, Chandy’s family felt it would be better for him to rest at home. However, he has been admitted to a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
During the Kerala Assembly elections, senior political leaders were campaigning continuously despite rising Covid-19 cases. Hours before Chandy’s tests results returned, Kerala CM Vijayan informed that he has tested positive. Vijayan underwent the Covid-19 test after his daughter Veena Vijayan tested positive. His son-in-law PA Muhammad Riyas also tested positive and has asked everyone who was exposed to him to undergo quarantine.
The Kerala Chief Minister informed that he is getting admitted to Kozhikode medical college hospital. Vijayan has shown no symptoms of Covid-19 despite testing positive.
Meanwhile, Kerala is witnessing a spike in Covid-19 cases. On Thursday, the state reported 4,353 new cases from 63,901 samples and the test positivity ratio touched 6.81%. With the increasing number of Coviid-19 cases, the state government has tightened the restrictions.
The Kerala Police are carrying out strict checking and taking action against those violating Covid-19 protocol. According to reports, police has registered 236 cases of Covid protocol violations, arrested 57 people and impounded four vehicles. The police have also fined 862 people for not wearing masks which is a major factor in the rising Covid-19 cases.
Chief Secretary Dr VP Joy has said that earlier guidelines for state and foreign returnees will continue. Those visiting Kerala for more than seven days will have to undergo quarantine for seven days. On the eighth day, they will have to take the RT-PCR test. However, those travelling to Kerala for less than seven days do not have to quarantine.
