Muslims in Mangaluru, Udupi, Kerala to observe Eid-ul-Adha on Sept 12

New Delhi, Apr 12: Ramping up efforts to "stamp out" coronavirus cases in the state, Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac has said that not only lockdown but intense testing of people and tracing of their contacts are also equally important in the fight against the outbreak.

Kerala, which was the first state in the country to report a coronavirus infection in late January, has also prepared a time table for coming out of the lockdown and there would be district-specific strategies to tackle the situation while the number of cases are on the decline.

In efforts to curb spreading of coronavirus infections, the country is under a 21-day lockdown till April 14 and many states have sought an extension amid rising number of cases. Kerala has proposed extending the lockdown and gradual phasing out after proper assessment.

"Lockdown should go on till we stamp out entire infections. Now, it is not enough to have lockdown. Equally important is that we should have intense testing, tracing and isolating (of people with coronavirus infections)," he said in a telephonic interview.

The government is closely monitoring the situation and there would be region-specific or district-specific strategies in place to tackle the outbreak, he said.

Against the backdrop of the lockdown that has also disrupted economic activities, Isaac said an exit strategy is being prepared and restrictions are being relaxed in certain segments, including agriculture.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on April 12

"The number of patients is coming down (in the state). We hope that in the coming days, the decline will be much more faster," he said during the interview late Friday.

On Saturday, the Kerala government said there were a total of 373 confirmed cases of coronavirus infections and 228 patients were under treatment in various hospitals in the state.

Keeping the trend in the last few days, the number of people under observation has come down to 1,23,490. So far, 14,613 samples from people with symptoms were sent for testing and the results of 12,818 samples have come negative, the government said in a statement on Saturday.

Indicating that there would be a calibrated exit from the lockdown, Isaac said the withdrawal would depend on three main factors, including the count of cases and the percentage of people who are under observation.

While emphasising that people must also be fed during the lockdown period, Isaac also said a time table is being prepared by the state to come out of the lockdown.

Even as strict measures are being implemented to deal with the current situation, the state is also preparing for a possible third wave of coronavirus cases.

Three students, who had returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, were tested positive. They were also the first such cases, to be reported in January-February period, and have recovered. Wuhan was the epicentre of coronavirus infections before it spread to other countries.

Later, there was a second wave of infections in Kerala.

According to the minister, the possibility of a third wave has also been considered for the exit strategy.

"A lot of Malayalees are expected to come back from outside the state. We will welcome them... before that, we want to stamp out all Covid cases in Kerala. Flatten the curve completely so that when these people from outside, they will be quarantined, they will be tested and only then they will be able to integrate with the rest of the community," he said.

The Kerala government's measures, including extensive testing and efforts to trace people who came in contact with coronavirus-infected persons, have helped in curbing spreading of infections.

The state's public healthcare system has also been appreciated in various quarters.

"People are health conscious. There is a demand for quality healthcare services and the response to this demand has been strengthening of the public healthcare system. We have a robust public healthcare system," the minister emphasised.

On April 9, Isaac tweeted about low level of coronavirus spreading in the state.

"International norm for Covid spread is 2.6 per 1 Covid patient. Total number of primary Covid infected who arrived in Kerala from abroad is 254. The secondary spread has been limited to 91. The international mortality rate is 5.75. With just 2 deaths, rate in Kerala is 0.58," he had tweeted.

Death toll due to the coronavirus increased to 273 and the number of cases to 8,356 in the country on Sunday.

Bengaluru, Jan 25: To address the grievances of the Industrialists, over the issue of acquisition of land, the state government have plans to dilute the Land Reforms Act, Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa, said here on Saturday.

Speaking to the media here, on his visit to the World Economic Forum, Davos, recently he said that 'the visit was fruitful and ends with satisfactory note by procuring promises from several Industrial houses to investment in Karnataka'.

Stating that during his five-day stay at Davos, he had met several Industries heads on the sidelines of the summit, and had an interactive meeting with them, Chief Minister said that 'the event had helped us to present our state Karnataka, to convince them about the prevailing industry-friendly environment'.

He said that he had met several heads of global companies, including Arcelor Mittal, Kirloskar, MAHINDRA, Bharat Forge, 2000 Watt, general electrical, Dassault, Dalmia, Lulu Group, Volvo, Nova Nosdik and Domeco.

'The interaction with the corporate heads was encouraging and more investment is expected to flow into Karnataka, in the fields of Mining, Power, Agriculture, Pharma, Education, and Industries.'

Informing that the main grouse expressed by the Industrialists about the bottlenecks being faced in the Land Reforms Act to procure land, he said that 'To make ease of conversion of Agricultural land we have plans to bring amendment and it would be both win-win situation to both Farmers as well as Industries.'

'We have promised them to remove all hurdles, which comes in the way of acquiring land to set up industries, and we have promised to rectify all the administrative problems within a month or two and legal problems in the next couple of months by amending existing laws.'

'We have also plans to present a new Industrial policy in the coming budget and roll out a comprehensive and investor-friendly law', he further said.

Replying to questions, Chief Minister said that 'all those investment proposals which got clearance at the High-Level Clearance Committee would automatically considered as ‘deemed permission’ and start the process of acquisition of land'.

'TheWorldEconomic Forum Summit had also served us as a platform to invite Industrialists to take part in the Karnataka Global Investors Meet scheduled to be held in November this year', he added.

Mangaluru, Feb 9: A youth, native of Dakshina Kannada, was kidnapped and later robbed and then abandoned by a group of criminals, after he landed at the Karipur International Airport in Kerala early on Sunday morning.

In a complaint filed with the Kondotty police, the victim identified as Abdul Nazar Shamsad, said he was kidnapped while he was travelling in a shared auto from the airport to Calicut town. The kidnappers took him to an unknown destination where they tortured him.

Shamshad was reportedly subjected to physical assault and was asked to hand over the gold that he carried with him. It is learnt that the kidnappers had mistaken the youth for a gold smuggler and tortured him in order to get hold of the smuggled gold. They also stole his money and documents before abandoning him.