Thiruvananthapuram now a coronavirus hotspot, says Vijayan

Thiruvananthapuram, July 28 (IANS) Kerala's capital district has turned into a coronavirus hotspot, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced on Tuesday.

Of the 1,167 Covid cases on Tuesday in the state, Thiruvananthapuram accounted for 227 of them.

Of the 300 people who underwent tests at the KINFRA park here, 88 of them turned to be positive, he said.

Noting that while the national average of the test positivity ratio stands at 12:1, or that out of every 12 tested, one turning out positive, Vijayan said that in Kerala, it stands at 36:1, while in Thiruvananthapuram, it is 18:1. "The first cluster in the district was registered on July 5 and by the 15th, there were more," he added.

The share of local infectees has been going up in the recent days and has reached 888 cases, of which the source of infection of 55 people has not been ascertained.

At present, the state has 10,091 positive cases, with the total number of cases, starting from the first case registered on January 30, is 20,896.

Rejecting claims about the veracity of the state's Covid toll, Vijayan said: "There are WHO guidelines to register a death of a Covid patient and that are being followed. It must be noted that all deaths are not Covid deaths and also even if a Covid positive patient dies, it need not be registered under death due to Covid. We are following the proper guidelines."

He also warned that the Kerala Police is now watching the social media and anyone who puts out wrong and baseless posts about Covid would be strongly dealt under the various sections.