Kerala has reported 962 new cases and 2 deaths on Monday. As there is a hike in Covid-19 cases, chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said there was negligence on part of everyone. There has been a steep hike in new Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks. Whereas, state reported 10,000 cases in more than 5 months but now it took less than three weeks to cross 25,000 cases in Kerala.

The CM, while launching 100-odd family health centres across the state through video conference said, ”At initial stages there was a strict vigil and results were really stimulating but gradually people lowered their guard which resulted in big spike in cases”.

CM clarified later, his intentions was not to criticise the health care workers whor are toiling day in and out but about the general perception of the people. He also took a dig at the Opposition saying it was more interested in toppling the ongoing drive against the pandemic.

At the initial stage, we effectively dealt with the situation. After this, some sort of laxity crept in. Some people thought it is only the duty of the government machinery. This remissness cost us dearly,” he said. The chief minister said that those who violated quarantine will be dealt with heavily and police will be given more powers to deal with them.

But the Opposition said that the chief minister at least admitted to his muffs, even if it came at the eleventh hour. “When we cited pitfalls he said we were sabotaging the ongoing drive. The state’s testing rate is still poor,” said Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala Meanwhile, In Kerala, Covid-19 cases increased to 26,872 adding 962 new cases on Monday. Out of these, 15,282 have recovered and 11,484 are active cases. With two more casualties, the state’s death toll rose to 86 on Monday. There are 506 containment zones in the state and capital Thiruvananthapuram topped the list with one-third of the active cases.