Test positivity rate (TPR) in Kerala relented on Sunday to 16.41 per cent after the two previous days saw the matric hovering well above 17 per cent. The daily new Covid cases slumped to 10,402 apparently due to Onam festival-induced sluggishness in collections of samples and sent for testing at 63,406.

This number is fewer by as many compared to the normal batch of samples sent for testing at 1.30-1.50 lakh on a daily basis. The day reported 66 deaths (which normally is in three figures) that took the cumulative figure to just five short of the 19,500-mark so far during the pandemic.

Hospital admissions low

Malappuram has claimed back its position as the district with the largest number of daily cases at 1,577 followed by Kozhikode (1,376); Palakkad (1,133); Ernakulam (1,101); and Thrissur (1,007). The day also saw 25,586 testing negative, leaving hospital admissions at 26,586.

The higher number of negative cases also translated into a reduction in current hospital admissions to 1,63,212 on Sunday. The number of wards with the Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) above the threshold of eight per cent remained at 414 in 74 local self-government jurisdictions.

‘Reduce social bubble’

With Onam passing, the hospital admissions number will continue to be under focus during this week and the next, sources in the Health Department said. There has not been any significant upward shift in the last week, but it could also have been a customary recess before infection show up.

According to Rajeev Jayadevan, former President and Scientific Adviser to India Medical Association, it is most important to reduce the ‘social bubble’ to the minimum possible to prevent infections. A ‘bubble’ refers to the number of people (friends or family) that one usually runs into on a daily basis. Inadvertent convergence of one or more bubble can potentially raise a virus scare, he said.

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