Kerala has flattened the coronavirus curve 100 days after the first case was confirmed, state Finance Minister Thomas Isaac tweeted Saturday morning, a day after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the state had been successful in containing the virus in January, when the first case was reported, and during the second wave of infections in March.
In his tweet Mr Isaac also reiterated the Chief Minister’s statement that with only 16 active cases in hospitals across the state, the government was bracing itself for a third wave of infections.
“It has been 100 days since the first COVID-19 case was reported in Kerala on January 30… We could contain the spread at that stage. The second phase started in (the first week of) March. Today, after two months, we have managed to flatten the curve,” Chief Minister Vijayan said on Friday.
“Our recovery rate is comparable to the highest in the world. We are doing everything to avoid a third phase but we are prepared for any situation,” he added, while also cautioning people to be “more careful in the coming days” given the expected return of thousands of Kerala residents stranded abroad.
On Thursday two special flights, operated by Air India, landed in Kerala’s Kochi, repatriating 363 Indians who had been stuck in Abu Dhabi and Dubai after the nationwide lockdown and ban on flights.
“We expect responsible behaviour from the general public in this regard,” the Chief Minister said.
Thomas Isaac’s tweet came hours after Dr David Nabarro, the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) special COVID-19 envoy, told NDTV that India’s curve would likely only flatten by the end of July.
Kerala, which reported the first three novel coronavirus cases in India, has done well to contain the infectious virus and prevent its spread so far. The southern state has reported 503 COVID-19 cases, of which 484 were discharged after receiving treatment. Only four deaths have been recorded.
The significant statistic, however, is that the state saw just five new cases in the first week of this month; two were detected on May 2 and three on May 4.
In a line graph shared by Mr Isaac, the number of active COVID-19 cases is shown in yellow and the curve is shown to be plunging dramatically downwards from April 9.
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