india

Updated: Apr 12, 2020 15:39 IST

While the coronavirus cases continue to mount across the country, the southern state of Kerala seems to have reported a slump in its Covid-19 cases.

A look at the number of coronavirus cases reported in the state suggests that the state administration has been able to tighten its grip on the spread of the deadly contagion.

The state accounted for the second-highest coronavirus cases in the country just a few weeks back after Maharashtra and now stands way below on the Covid-19 state tally as the number of cases sharply rise in states like Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and others.

My compliments to CM @vijayanpinarayi & people of Kerala for remarkable handling of #COVID__19 It’s daily discharges far exceed daily new infections. It has restricted secondary spread & while international mortality rate is 5.75, rate in Kerala is mere 0.58 with just 2 deaths. https://t.co/L3T82tNGLA — Amitabh Kant (@amitabhk87) April 11, 2020

Does this mean the land of coconut has managed to ‘flatten’ the Covid-19 curve?

As per the data released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday, Kerala has 471 total coronavirus which includes 346 active cases, 123 recoveries and 2 fatalities.

A week back, last Sunday, the state had reported a total of 357 cases including 306 active cases, 49 recoveries and two fatalities.

Earlier this week, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that recovery of more people and fewer new cases in the state are good signs but it should not let the administration “lower the guard” against Covid-19.

“Recovery of many patients is a good sign. And the number of people testing positive also came down. These factors show we have a good grip on the disease and things will turn in our favour soon. But time is not ripe to lower the guard. If some lapses do take place things will change. We have examples of some the developed countries before us. So we have to keep our surveillance well,” Vijayan said.

Excellent resilience shown by Kerala in dealing with #Covid_19. Best practices of leadership led by @CMOKerala, bureaucracy led by District Collectors & Health Department, ably supported by police, Local self govt, media & community as a whole. Worth emulating! @amitabhk87 pic.twitter.com/YHS8KC0tf9 — Dr Dinesh Arora (@drdineshias) April 11, 2020

A look at Kerala’s Covid-19 trajectory:

April 5 - 306 active cases, 49 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 6 - 314 active cases, 55 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 7 - 327 active cases, 58 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 8 - 336 active cases, 70 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 9 - 345 active cases, 83 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 10 - 357 active cases, 96 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 11 - 364 active cases, 123 recoveries, 2 deaths

April 12 - 364 active cases, 123 recoveries, 2 deaths

The state has not reported any fatalities in over a week. While the number of active cases in Kerala has gone up from 306 to 346 in a week (an increase of 40 new active cases), the number of patients who have recovered from Covid-19 in the state has a dramatic rise since last Sunday (from 49 to 123).

According to Johns Hopkins University, ‘flattening’ the coronavirus curve involves “reducing the number of new Covid-19 cases from one day to the next”.

If Kerala continues to maintain the trend, it would soon be able to not just flatten its Covid-19 trajectory but also free the state from the menace of coronavirus.

India on Sunday reported as many as 8,356 total cases of coronavirus infection in the country. As per the data released by the Ministry of Health on Sunday morning, India now has 7,367 active cases, 715 people have been cured or discharged and 273 Covid-19 related fatalities.

Note: Figures are from official data released by the Ministry of Health, may differ from realtime numbers released by various state governments subject to confirmation from the Centre.