Observing the problematic Covid-19 situation in Kerala and Maharashtra, the Union Health Ministry has decided to send two multi-disciplinary teams to the states to collaborate with the state health departments in establishing an overall mechanism in place to manage the situation.
The central team to Maharashtra included experts from the National Centre for Disease Control and Delhi’s RML Hospital. While the team to Kerala involves senior officials from the Health Ministry as well as experts from the Thiruvananthapuram regional office of Health and Family Welfare and New Delhi’s Lady Hardinge Medical College.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja had earlier reported that the organisation of local body polls had caused the increase in Covid cases, and with another election up ahead, the situation seems to be spiralling out of control. Recently, hundreds of people had gathered in an Adalat organised in Alappuzha where a few state ministers had participated. According to sources, many of those gathered at the event had violated several Covid protocols including that id wearing masks and maintaining proper distance. While the organisers had claimed that the event was accessible only to those who had registered for the event, many local leaders and representatives had brought in more people from outside. The police struggled to enforce the protocol as more and more people began rushing in. A few have also pointed out that the events organised by the UDF have also violated Covid protocols.
A year after the first Covid case, Kerala accounts for almost 43% of the total active cases and Kerala and Maharashtra accounts for around three-fourth the daily active cases. The Union Ministry notes that the Kerala government failed at following protocol during the lifting of the lockdown. Kerala had been touted by many national and international media for having been one of the best in ensuring proper quarantine for its citizens. However, the state began to record high numbers following Onam celebrations and it went up quickly following the local body polls.
Considering the same, Maharashtra is in fact showing considerable development in the control of the virus as it had one of the fastest transmission rates within the state borders. Mumbai and Pune were some of the worst affected states, and now Mumbai has shown great improvements while Pune still leads. However, the latter has brought down the numbers and Ernakulam in Kerala is currently at the top for the most number of active cases.
