The Congress-led opposition slammed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for being busy with their state-wide yatra and not doing anything, as according to the figures released by the Centre on Sunday, of the total 1,828 active cases in the country, 1,634 cases are now in Kerala.

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala’s Health Minister Veena George has quashed rumors of a COVID resurgence, calling them “panic-mongering” by vested interests. In a press conference on Monday, she assured the public that authorities are closely monitoring the situation and have all necessary measures in place.

“Some vested interests are trying to spread panic over the spread of COVID. The fact of the matter is that authorities are constantly watching things and all things are in place. From November onwards, samples are promptly being sent for testing,” she said.

“Last month, among the samples that were sent for testing, one sample of a 79-year-old man tested from the capital district turned positive for the JN1 variant. He was under home isolation, has been cured, and is fine,” George added.

“Incidentally, last month, Singapore identified 15 people who travelled from India as positive for JN1 and this means that this variant is present in other states, but in Kerala, due to our protocols, we were able to identify it. All our systems are in place and from December 13 to 16, a drill was conducted in 1,192 hospitals across the state to assess the availability of facilities. At the moment, we have 1,957 beds, 2,454 ICU beds and 937 ventilator beds. Hence, there need be no worry,” the minister said.

The Congress-led opposition slammed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for being busy with their state-wide yatra and not doing anything, as according to the figures released by the Centre on Sunday, of the total 1,828 active cases in the country, 1,634 cases are now in Kerala. On Sunday, Kerala recorded 111 fresh cases out of the 122 in the country. More importantly, one COVID death was also reported in the state.