Kerala mask mandate precautionary measure, no major rise in cases: Experts

They say there is no major rise in cases, and state just following WHO guidelines

The Kerala government’s decision to make the wearing of masks mandatory in public spaces must be seen as a precautionary measure, as it was contributing 64 per cent of active Covid-19 cases in the country, state health ministry officials and experts said.

The other reason cited for issuing the guidelines was the rise in influenza cases. According to data compiled by Business Standard, the state has a positivity rate of 0.68 per cent, compared with the national average of 0.10 per cent. In some districts like Kottayam and Thiruvananthapuram, the positivity rate was much higher at 1.12 per cent and 1 per cent, respectively.

However, in the week ended January 17, the daily average of new cases reported in Kerala declined to 33 (147 nationally), compared with 66 during the same time last month (till December 19). India reported less than 100 new Covid cases on Monday.

Health ministry officials told Business Standard that there was no alarming rise in any variants, including XBB.1.5 and XBB, in the state. The government has asked the department to increase local testing and randomly test 2 per cent of international passengers arriving at airports in Kerala.
 

 

According to experts, the state was only following the guidelines set by the World Health Organization (WHO) on January 13, which recommended the use of masks irrespective of the local epidemiological situation, given the current spread of Covid-19 globally. The state contributed 1,283 out of the total 1,998 active cases in the country.

“We are not seeing any major rise in the number of cases in Kerala. The move by the Kerala government can only be seen as a precautionary measure. They may be following the overall global trend and taking preventive measures,” said Anish TS, associate professor of community medicine at Government Medical College, Manjeri, in Kerala.

“In Kerala, of the lower respiratory infections reported recently, around 15 per cent were due to influenza. Lower respiratory infections can happen because of Covid, bacterial issues, other viruses and also influenza. This can also be prevented using these measures. Just like Covid, influenza can also turn serious,” said Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the National IMA (Indian Medical Association) Covid Task Force.  

Jayadevan said Kerala might have taken the decision based on global epidemiological trends. He said India had a higher number of cases of the XBB variants. “Kerala is a travel hub with air openings to West Asia, Australia, east Asian countries, Europe, and Africa. Hence, it is easy for an unknown variant to come. Going by that logic, this can be seen as a precautionary measure,” Jayadevan added.