a year after the first covid19 case was reported in kerala on jan 30 2020 the present situation is not encouraging though kerala can boast of a delayed peak the state tops the list when it comes to daily reporting of cases in the countrythe health department is of the view that there is a relaxed approach towards fundamental things such as social distancing wearing mask hand hygiene following quarantine precautions and health guidelines by the public health minister kk shailaja made it clear we have to continue the vigil thats worth lives we have learnt to live with covid protocols it should continue to bring down the caseload it is impractical to reimpose lockdown to bring down the casesprincipal secretary health rajan n khobragade said people are forgetting that they need to act and follow the health advisory to protect everyone in the society to infuse motivation and revitalize breakthe chain campaign we have launched the programme back to basics the campaign is being launched involving the common man the masses should get a feel that it is a people led movement and should result into public action against the pandemic he said the department is now waiting for the ongoing serosurveillance in 14 districts to evaluate the chances of further spread of the disease the first report of serosurveillance will be ready on feb 14 the study is also being done to find the presence of antibodies in high risk groups the study will help understand the possibility of spread during the next stage and this will help government to adopt preventive measures said the ministersocial distancing is the key factor if you can prevent crowds in closed premises or public places you can always prevent super spread a casual approach among citizens towards the pandemic after more relaxations were introduced is the reason for the rise in cases in state we are seeing several instances of people not following proper covid protocols said chairman of covid expert committee dr b ekbalgovernment must take stringent measures to avoid mass gatherings public functions and meetings should be curtailed rapid response teams at the local bodylevel should strictly monitor the situation in their areas a code of conduct should be in place for assembly election for maintaining covid protocols said dr ekbal