Though that said, it is true there are doubts about how correct data from some states is, but our data is correct.”. Dr Mehta said that just about 15 per cent of the 50,000-60,000 tests Kerala conducts every day are RT PCR tests. “It’s like a plateau. For suspected deaths, a swab is taken and the body allowed to be cremated but when the results come, Mehta says the number is diligently added to the total “unlike in some states”. But we wanted more control, maybe to get people tested before they flew. In an exclusive interview to ThePrint, Kerala Chief Secretary Dr Vishwas Mehta said the state has sent samples to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and is awaiting the results. Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. It can get more virulent,” says the chief secretary. “During the first wave we never knew the strain. “We are the sentinels as far as Covid is concerned. There are chances of false negatives but it’s okay. That need not mean that fatality is large but it is spreading faster than what we expected. He will isolate himself and that is important.”. The ICMR had in April stated that there are three different strains of the virus in India principally from these three different parts of the world. According to Dr Mehta, until June-July, almost 95 per cent of Kerala’s cases were imported from the Gulf and from other Indian states as thousands returned home by train, roads and flights. He completed MBBS from Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital, Mumbai in 2003 and MD - TB & Chest from Grant Medical College and Sir JJ Hospital, Mumbai in 2010. Sifting through a stack of papers on his desk — Covid reports from the districts, projections and comparisons — Dr Mehta says that his other problem is that there is no clarity on whether this is the peak or whether there is one further away. Nobody knew anything but we fell back on the Nipah protocols from two years ago,” he said. That is why we have imposed Section 144 and mobilised sectoral magistrates,” he said. I know it because I was health secretary for four years. “(We are) not understanding the peak…when it will come,” he said. ThePrint has the finest young reporters, columnists and editors working for it. Worried about Covid strain we have, it’s highly infectious, says Kerala chief... India should have decentralised and customised planning during Covid-19 pandemic, How coastal areas, protests made Thiruvananthapuram epicentre of Kerala’s Covid resurgence, far higher percentage of deaths in younger people, Kerala added over 1 lakh Covid cases in Sept, has highest percentage of active cases now, 986 new Covid deaths & 72,049 fresh cases in last 24 hours, positivity rate rises to 6%, It could take 3 years before whole world is vaccinated against Covid, Dr Faheem Younus says, Difference in Delhi Covid toll again, govt has 895 fewer deaths than civic bodies’ numbers, Command centre, Uber-like ambulance service — how Kerala’s Ernakulam has kept Covid toll low, Video calls with loved ones, prayers — life inside a Covid centre in Ernakulam, Three men on a raft go 400 km across Assam, from world’s largest to smallest river island, How media has hit the self-destruct button in Arnab’s Republic-vs-other TV channels war, Models, Nokia phones, DJs, $50 million hotel — Mohammed Bin Salman’s secret parties. We do not allow patients to pile up; we immediately shift them to the next level to free up space,” he explains.