COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala

COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala, India
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationKerala, India
Arrival date30 January 2020
(4 years, 9 months, 3 weeks and 3 days)
Confirmed casesNegative increase 65,34,352
Active casesPositive decrease 2,507
RecoveredIncrease 64,62,811
Deaths
Negative increase 68,197 [note 1]
Fatality rate1.03% [1]
Territories
All 14 districts
Vaccinations>99% of adults (one dose)
90.5% (two doses)
79.8% of 15-18 year olds (one dose)[2]
Government website
dashboard.kerala.gov.in/covid/

The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala (which was also the first reported case in all of India) was confirmed in Thrissur on 30 January 2020.[3][4][5] As of 5 April 2022, there have been 65,34,352 confirmed cases, test positivity rate is at 2.04% (13.96% cumulative), with 64,62,811 (98.91%) recoveries and 68,197 (1.04%) deaths in the state.[6][note 1]

Initially, Kerala's success in containing COVID-19 was widely praised both nationally and internationally,[7][8][9][10][11][12][13] Following high number of cases being reported in March, Kerala had, by April 30, reduced the rate of increase of new cases to less than 0.25% per day. However, in mid-May, there was an increase or "second wave" of new cases, following the return of Keralites from other countries and other Indian states. In July, a large local group of cases was identified at the Kumarichantha fish market in Thiruvananthapuram. There was a third surge in cases post-Onam, with a high number of new cases reported in late-October in Malappuram, Kozhikode, Ernakulam and Thrissur districts. Active cases peaked at 97,525, and started to decline from November, before bouncing back to over 4,00,000 in May 2021 following the state elections.[14] On 12 May 2021 Kerala reported the largest single day spike with 43,529 new cases.[15] During 27–28 July Kerala reported 22,129 and 22,056 new cases respectively, accounting for more than 50% of daily new cases in India in those days.[16][17] The state, however, has the low case fatality rate in India - 1.05% - compared to the national average of 1.2%.[18]

Kerala now has the 2nd highest number of confirmed cases in India after Maharashtra. As of July 2021, more than 90% of known cases were due to community spread. The most number of cases are reported in Ernakulam (13.9%), Thiruvananthapuram (11.1%) and Kozhikode (10.1%) districts (Percentage of confirmed cases out of total confirmed cases in Kerala).[19][20] Cases per million population is highest in Ernakulam (2,85,100+), Kottayam (2,39,000+), Pathanamthitta (2,33,800+) and Thiruvananthapuram (2,27,400+) districts.

As per the official reports from the Government of Kerala, up until September 9, 2022, there were 9,110 active COVID-19 cases, with a cumulative total of 6,767,856 confirmed cases, 6,686,948 recoveries, and 70,913 confirmed deaths. Since then, official updates have been less frequent on the government portal, with data often appearing in newspaper reports. By 2024, case numbers have fluctuated significantly, reflecting a substantial decrease in the rate of transmission within the state. However, sporadic positive cases continue to be reported, indicating that the virus has not been fully eradicated.


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  1. ^ "Covid-19 Body Count: India's Low Mortality Rate and the Contrasting Pictures of Two States". News18. 15 April 2020. Retrieved 16 April 2020.
  2. ^ "സംസ്ഥാനത്ത് ഇന്ന് 51,887 പേര്‍ക്ക് കോവിഡ്; 24 മണിക്കൂറിനിടെ 24 മരണം". Mathrubhumi (in Malayalam). Mathrubhumi. 1 February 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  3. ^ Narasimhan, T. E. (30 January 2020). "India's first coronavirus case: Kerala student in Wuhan tested positive". Business Standard India. Archived from the original on 11 March 2020. Retrieved 7 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Kerala Defeats Coronavirus; India's Three COVID-19 Patients Successfully Recover". The Weather Channel. Archived from the original on 18 February 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2020.
  5. ^ Sharma, Samrat; Mishra, Mayank (11 September 2021). "How Kerala has high caseload, but less deaths, hospitalisation". India Today. Retrieved 13 October 2021.
  6. ^ "GoK Dashboard | Official Kerala COVID-19 Statistics".
  7. ^ "ICMR lauds Kerala's containment strategy for COVID-19". 2 May 2020.
  8. ^ "Kerala's COVID-19 response puts 'so-called first world' to shame: British economist". The Week. The Week. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  9. ^ Faleiro, Sonia (13 April 2020). "What the world can learn from Kerala about how to fight covid-19". MIT Technology Review. MIT. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  10. ^ Masih, Niha (14 April 2020). "Aggressive testing, contact tracing, cooked meals: How the Indian state of Kerala flattened its coronavirus curve". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  11. ^ Biswas, Soutik (16 April 2020). "Coronavirus: How India's Kerala state 'flattened the curve'". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  12. ^ Oommen C Kurien (21 April 2020). "How the Indian state of Kerala flattened the coronavirus curve". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  13. ^ Desai, Devika (23 April 2020). "The Kerala model: How the Indian state's response to Patient Zero helped flatten the COVID-19 curve". London Free Press. Postmedia Network. Retrieved 4 May 2020.
  14. ^ "India's Case Fatality Rate lowest since 22nd March".
  15. ^ "Kerala sees biggest single-day spike of 43,529 new coronavirus cases". Business Standard India. Press Trust of India. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  16. ^ Ghosh, Abantika (30 July 2021). "Why 'model state' Kerala is accounting for more than half of India's daily Covid cases". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  17. ^ "Kerala now accounts for 50% of all new Covid cases in India, worried Centre intervenes". India Today. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  18. ^ "PIB'S DAILY BULLETIN ON COVID-19". 23 October 2020.
  19. ^ "COVID-19 in Kerala: 60% cases in Thiruvananthapuram are of local transmission, says CM Vijayan". economictimes.indiatimes.com. 19 July 2020.[permanent dead link‍]
  20. ^ "Covid-19 breaks transmission trend in Thiruvananthapuram". timesofindia.indiatimes.com. 9 July 2020.