THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Health Minister Veena George came forward with an explanation on the incident of Centre sending a letter to the state health secretary demanding to release the exact figures of Covid.

The minister alleged that not giving the exact figures of Covid is a false propaganda. The figures are given to the national surveillance unit. Mails are sent every day. Raising false allegations is unfortunate. Why is the centre circulating wrong things, the minister asked while addressing the press meet.

'It's being reviewed every day. There will be a comprehensive report every two weeks. If the Covid cases increase, it will be published. Things have gotten to the point of living with Covid,’ she said.

The aim of the health department is not to spread unnecessary fears about the disease. Restrictions were lifted because of the low number of cases. Kerala is doing things transparently, the minister clarified.

The minister explained the Covid figures of the last few days. There were 209 cases of Covid on the previous day. The average number of cases in the state is close to 200. Accurate publication of Covid figures is crucial to preventing the spread of the disease, the centre mentioned in the letter.

Kerala did not publish the Covid figures from April 13 to 17. The state released on Sunday all 150 Covid deaths during this period. The health minister had earlier said that they had stopped publishing the figures due to low number of cases in the state.

The number of daily Covid cases in the country has increased by 90 per cent in the last day. The number of patients per day had risen to 2180 from the previous 1150. Of these, 940 cases are from Kerala. Five days later, Kerala released the Covid figures together, raising the number of cases in the country. The ministry of health sent a letter to Kerala pointing this.