Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala flattened the coronavirus curve 100 days after confirmation of the first outbreak, state finance minister Thomas Isaac tweeted Saturday morning, adding that with only 16 active cases in hospitals across the state, the government was bracing itself for a third wave of infections.
"On the hundredth day of confirmation of the first COVID-19 occurrence, Kerala flattened the curve. Only 16 active cases remain in hospitals. We are planning for the third wave," Mr Isaac wrote.
The minister's tweet comes hours after Dr David Nabarro, the special envoy of the World Health Organization (WHO) COVID-19, told NDTV that by the end of July, India's curve will possibly only flatten.
Kerala, which registered the first three novel cases of coronavirus in India, has done well to contain the infectious virus and so far prevent it from spreading. The southern state reported 503 cases of COVID-19, 484 of which were discharged after treatment. Only four fatalities were reported.
However, the important figure is that in the first week of this month the state only saw five new cases; two were identified on May 2 and three on May 4.
The number of active COVID-19 cases is shown in yellow in a line graph provided by Mr Isaac, and the curve is seen to fall sharply downward from April 9.
In comparison, from the same date, the curve reflecting people who have recovered from the virus (represented in green) rises dramatically upwards.
Kerala's efforts to counter the novel coronavirus involve an extended quarantine duration of 28 days for confirmed cases; this duration is 14 days nationally.
Also, motivated by COVID-19 efforts in South Korea last month, Kerala became the first state to use walk-in kiosks to collect samples by mass.
The move by the state government came as other states faced difficulties in ramping up existing health facilities to meet the demands of mass testing.
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