Kerala reports 182 Covid cases in May, says Health Minister Veena George
Thiruvananthapuram, May 21 (PTI): As many as 182 Covid-19 cases have been reported in Kerala in May so far, state Health Minister Veena George said on Wednesday.
The highest number of cases was reported in Kottayam district (57), while 34 and 30 cases were reported in Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively, during the period, she said after chairing a meeting of the state-level Rapid Response Team (RRT) here.
George urged people to be vigilant, as there is a possibility of an increase in Covid cases in Kerala as well, as large numbers of the infection are being reported in Southeast Asian countries.
The Omicron JN.1 variants, LF.7 and NB 1.8, which are spreading in these countries, have a higher potential for disease transmission, but the severity is not that high, she noted in a statement.
Stressing the significance of self-protection, the minister said those with symptoms such as a cold, sore throat, cough, and shortness of breath must wear a mask.
It is advisable for the elderly, pregnant women, and those with serious illnesses to wear masks in public places and while travelling, she said, adding that masks are mandatory while visiting hospitals.
Health workers must also wear masks, George said.
Instructions have been issued to conduct Covid tests for those coming to hospitals with symptoms in the state. Directions have also been issued to ensure RTPCR kits and other safety equipment are there, the statement further said.
George also urged people to be cautious against dengue, rat fever and waterborne diseases in view of the impending rainy season.
Besides the health minister, health secretary, national health mission (NHM)'s state mission director and health director were present during the RRT meeting, the statement added.
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Bengaluru: In a significant move towards enhancing disaster preparedness, the Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC), in collaboration with UNICEF, launched the Karnataka State Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap (KSDRR) 2025-2030 on Monday, marking the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction.
With this initiative, Karnataka has become the fifth state in India to launch the Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap, following Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Assam, as reported by The New Indian Express.
The new roadmap is designed to mitigate the impact of natural disasters and reduce the state’s vulnerability. Over the past five years, Karnataka has suffered an estimated Rs 1 lakh crore in losses due to floods, droughts, lightning, hailstorms, fire, and other calamities. Addressing these challenges, Mullai Muhilan, Director of KSNDMC, emphasised that the goal of the KSDRR is to implement a systematic approach to preventing and managing such disasters.
“The theme on this day is ‘Fund Resilience, Not Disasters’, and that is why this roadmap is a framework of existing solutions to reduce and prevent losses by mitigating floods, drought, earthquakes, heat waves and so on,” TNIE quoted Muhilan as saying.
The KSDRR outlines a multi-phase strategy, which includes a vulnerability profile of Karnataka, highlights DRR developments, initiatives taken in the state, financial arrangements, and defines the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders as per the National Disaster Management Act, 2005.
The roles and responsibilities, work implementation in the road map are based on three major milestones divided to achieve in five years. All departments, gram panchayats have prepared disaster management plans with latest data as baseline information.
In milestone 2 for the year 2027-28, the roadmap envisions that the state has to collaborate and partner with various stake holders from local to global level. In milestone 3, for the year 2029-30, it mentions reducing infrastructure damage, human and animal deaths, casualties by 75%.
“Currently, KSNDMC has applications including Varuna Mitra, dedicated mainly to providing weather forecast to farmers across the state. Similarly, we have Megha Sandesha, a mobile app developed in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Science. This app was created to mitigate urban floods and it provides information to various government bodies especially BWSSB, and others. We are still working on this app to provide information and data to BDA, GBA on the areas that might flood in the future. They can use this data before giving clearance to buildings of layouts,” explained Muhilan.
As part of the roadmap, several government departments have been directed to work towards risk identification, risk reduction, preparedness, financial protection, and resilient recovery. For instance, the Education Department will be responsible for developing school-level disaster management plan.
The roadmap also outlines a robust infrastructure for real-time disaster monitoring. Karnataka has already installed 6,500 telemetric rain gauge stations at the gram panchayat level, alongside 850 telemetric weather stations at the taluk level. Other installations include lightning and thunderstorm sensors, water level sensors in Bengaluru and surrounding cities, and seismic sensors at major dam sites.
