Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Saturday said that the state is reaping the rewards of all the hard work that went into the containment of the further spread of COVID-19.
In the state, the total number presently under treatment is 138 and in the past week, the number of new cases was in single digits and there are around 78,000 people under observation in the state.
The minister told the media that in no way can the Kerala government relax because "things can go haywire anytime if we are not alert, but at the same time, life has to go on if not there will be other issues."
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"It should not be like, we saved people from coronavirus, but people die out of hunger. So whatever relaxations now announced to be effective after April 20, should not be an occasion to forget the alertness that we maintained. Instead, the relaxation should be used to revive the economy and it should happen by keeping all the rules and regulations of maintaining social distancing," said Shailaja.
Kerala has announced that based on the prevailing performance of the 14 districts on how it tackled COVID-19, it has been marked into four different zones and that would come into effect after April 20.
While Kottayam and Idukki will get the maximum relaxation, subject to all the national guidelines, the other 12 districts will get a scaled-down relaxation.
(IANS)
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