THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: It has been more than six months since Kerala reported its first COVID-19 case and recent reports suggest that the state is yet to witness the havoc caused by the virus. While the transmission rate of the virus has increased over the past few weeks, the state is expected to witness a surge in the number of cases in September.

According to health experts, the daily tally of COVID cases might go on to touch 5000 in the next month. The situation might be extremely challenging for the health department as there might be a deficiency in the number of ICU beds across the state. The unavailability of ICUs can lead to an increase in COVID deaths as well. The state can overcome such a crisis only by ensuring the complete cooperation of private hospitals.
With the increase in testing, there has been an increase in the number of COVID cases. While 36,291 samples were tested on Wednesday, the state reported the highest single-day tally of 2333 positive cases. The health department intends to test at least 50,000 samples per day in September. At the current rate, samples of 6 persons test positive upon testing every 100 samples. This rate is expected to increase in the next month. However, the increase in transmission rate cannot be seen as a lapse from the part of health workers. According to experts, the increase in transmission rate is natural as the virus has spread into society.