In view of the surge in COVID cases, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on Monday met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and allocated Rs 267.35 crore for health infrastructure in the state.
Kochi: As Kerala continues to report a high number of coronavirus infections, Health Minister Veena George on Thursday said that the state government is taking the best possible measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are ramping up the testing to identify every single case. Our system is already on high alert and we are taking the best possible measures to contain the disease, ANI quoted George as saying.
In view of the surge in COVID cases, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had on Monday met Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and allocated Rs 267.35 crore to help augment critical infrastructure in the state as mounting active caseload begins to put pressure on hospitals.
Kerala Health Minister was also present in the meeting.
Talking about the meeting with the Union Health Minister, Geroge said it was a very positive meeting. “We asked for 1.11 crore more doses of COVID vaccines by September end and he (Union health minister) agreed to it. We are thankful to the Union government,” the Kerala Health Minister added.
She also informed that the Kerala government is preparing to start vaccine production in the state.
“Kerala government has already started talks regarding vaccine production in the state. We are trying to introduce fill-finish units. We have discussed the issue (with the Union health minister) and the Centre is very positive,” George said.
COVID situation in Kerala
On Wednesday, as many as 21,427 new COVID-19 cases were reported in Kerala. The new infections pushed the overall tally to 37,25,005, as the number of people succumbing to the disease rose to 19,049 with 179 additional deaths.
As many as 18,731 people have been cured of the infection since Tuesday, taking the total recoveries to 35,48,196 and the number of active cases to 1,77,683, a state government release said.
