Kerala’s share in India’s average new cases consistently increased between June 1 and August 28. As of August 28, 64.2% of India’s moderate new cases were from Kerala. The chart shows the seven-day rolling average of new cases in Kerala and its contribution to India’s average new cases.
Only in April, the world was giving suggestions on how to control COVID – the Kerala way.
Tens of thousands of cases are reported daily, just a few hundred kilometres of Goa, but what are we doing? We, too, are preparing for a Kerala situation.
SURAJ NANDREKAR
Editor, Goemkarponn
Just when everybody thought that India has successfully defeated the second wave of COVID19 after the cases in Maharastra, which was the epicentre of COVID cases in India, another state was considered a role model in COVID19 management.
The State of Kerala, just a few hundred kilometres from Goa, is again witnessing a surge in COVID-19 cases. Now, every six out of 10 new cases in India are from Kerala. While patients have gradually increased since July, a sharp spike in infections was recorded after Onam ended. Testing levels sharply declined during the 10-day-long festival even as public mobility increased.
Kerala’s share in India’s average new cases consistently increased between June 1 and August 28. As of August 28, 64.2% of India’s moderate new cases were from Kerala. The chart shows the seven-day rolling average of new cases in Kerala and its contribution to India’s average new cases.
Only in April, the world was giving suggestions on how to control COVID – the Kerala way.
Tens of thousands of cases are reported daily, just a few hundred kilometres of Goa, but what are we doing? We, too, are preparing for a Kerala situation.
With Assembly elections within six months, the political slugfest has already begun. Especially, the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is on overdrive attracting huge crowds at the rallies of Jan Sampark yatra by the CM himself and the State BJP president.
This is when the COVID19 cases are hovering around 100-mark, and the deaths are around 1-5 every day.
Hence, lowering the guard at this juncture can prove fatal for Goa. When Goa went through a precarious situation, it was Kerala that came to rescue with Oxygen supplies.
Instead of planning and developing the health infrastructure, we find our ministers and leaders busy in elections rallies. The experts have opined that the third wave could hit in October and November while the elections are slated for February next. So why not tackle the threat of the third wave first before elections.
Last May, around 1700 people lost lives due to a shortage of Oxygen, but we haven’t learnt our lessons.
Agreed, we now have more storage tanks everywhere, but what happened to the plants. In May, CM said the Oxygen plants would come up within 15 days. It’s almost four months, but there is no sign of a new plant.
How long will we depend on Oxygen supplies from other States?
One fails to understand that the CM who acknowledge that the COVID19 is not over yet and we need to follow precaution is himself seen with hundreds and thousands of workers without even a simple mask.
If Goa is hit by the third wave and the situation turns as ugly as April-May, it would be only and only Dr Pramod Sawant and Sadanand Shet Tanawade who should be held responsible for the situation.
