THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala government is relieved that the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) has been kept below 15 percent for the last three consecutive days. It has been nearly one month since the state government announced a lockdown. It is hoped that if the rate of spread is gradually reduced at this level, the TPR can be brought down to less than 10 percent in three or four days, and further relaxations in lockdown restrictions can be allowed.

The TPR was 28.25 on May 8 when the lockdown started. On May 12, it rose again to 29.72. The Health Department estimates that the drop in TPR to less than 15 percent from that critical situation is a positive result of people deciding to stay home. While the TPR stood at 14.82 and 14.89 on Friday and Saturday respectively, it stood at 14.27 on Sunday.

While the increase in the daily death toll in the state is worrying, it is a relief that most of these deceased persons had tested positive for the virus sometime back. The health department explains that there is no correlation between the current Covid status and the number of deaths, as the figure also includes individuals who tested positive for Covid after the death.

The state had tightened the restrictions and withdrawn some earlier relaxations to reduce the test positivity rate at a rapid pace. While the government has said that it will offer significant relaxations on lockdowns if the positivity falls below 10 percent, it will also take into account the health department's recommendation that relaxations beyond the limit should not be granted immediately.