COVID-19: With a TPR of above 12% is Kerala following a double standard model

New Delhi, July 28: The Supreme Court had recently lashed out at the Kerala government for lifting restrictions as part of Bakrid. The fact of the matter is that the restrictions were lifted in regions where the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was above 15.

The TPR in Kerala is 12.35 per cent, which is way higher than the national average of 2.51 per cent. The reports coming in from Kerala indicate that India is on the brink of a third wave, something that the experts have been warning about. On Tuesday, Kerala reported 22,129 fresh COVID-19 cases and the Kerala Health Department said that 156 persons lost their lives. The total death toll now stands at 16,326. Further reports also say that among the new cases, 20,194 people have been infected through the spread locally.

Kerala has become the first state in the last 50 days to report over 20,000 fresh cases in a single day and the state accounted for over 50 per cent of the new cases in the country on Tuesday.

The question now being asked is did the relaxations for Bakrid lead to the rise in the number of cases.

BJP's IT Cell chief, Amit Malviya said that the Eid relaxation is coming home to roost. Silence of the secularists is deafening. The Opposition too has slammed the government which had once taken pride in the Kerala Model when it came to curbing the spread of COVID-19.

The government has come under immense criticism when it decided to relax the lockdown for three days in view of the Bakrid festival. The Supreme Court too had frowned upon the decision and said that the relaxations are wholly uncalled for, while also saying that the citizenry of India has been laid bare to the nationwide pandemic by the grant of such relaxations.

The Supreme Court had also told the UP government to consider its decision on the Kanwar Yatra. Additional Chief Secretary of Information Navneet Sehgal said that the Yatra has been cancelled by the Kanwar Sanghs on the appeal of the UP government.

The Yatra had been cancelled last year as well amidst the first wave of COVID-19.

Speaking on the issue of Kerala, the BJP's Sambit Patra said that 50 per cent of the COVID-19 positive cases come from Kerala. He also blamed the relaxations given for Bakrid for the rise in numbers. "50% of the COVID positive cases in the country comes from Kerala, thanks to the Eid relaxations. But as expected the narrative would always be built around a Kumbh or a Kawar Yatra. Hmmm, Patra said in a tweet.