THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said in a press conference that there is no need to withdraw the lockdown in the state. Withdrawal of the lockdown will increase the number of patients. The CM said that the death toll is likely to rise if the number of patients rises.

"In order to be in the early stages of unlocking, the number of patients in the hospital and the test positivity rate must drop further. The use of ICU beds should be less than 60%. The average test positivity rate for three consecutive days should be less than 15%," the CM said.

"However, more than 70 percent of ICU beds in government hospitals are currently in use. The average test positivity rate for the last three days is 18 percent. At the same time, there should be a seven-day reduction in the total number of people currently infected and the number of newly infected people. We can enter the initial unlock phase only when all of these criteria are met. Otherwise, if the lockdown is avoided, the spread of the disease will become stronger and out of control. If the number of patients increases beyond the capacity of the health system, the death toll will increase significantly. We will go ahead with the lockdown to prevent lives from being endangered," he added.