Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 24 (PTI) Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday informed Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the COVID-19 cases in the state were showing a declining trend since the second week of October.

Participating in a virtual meeting held by Modi with chief ministers of states witnessing a spike in COVID-19 cases, he sought central funds to help the needy who have lost their kin to the disease and also assistance to ease the financial burden due to the delay in the GST compensation.

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Vijayan said during the meeting he explained about his government's measures to fight COVID-19 such as the COVID First Line Treatment Centres (CFLTCs) across the state which had helped to reduce the pressure on hospitals. "Currently, besides the available hospital beds, 1.24 lakh beds have been arranged in 1,426 institutions.After the second week of October, the COVID-19 infection rate in the state is showing a decreasingtrend," he told reporters here.

The chief minister said the state government has arranged 2,113 labs in both the private and government sector and tillnow over 58.09 lakh tests have been conducted.

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The states should be given more freedom to utilise the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) based on the recommendations made by the 15th Finance Commission, he said.

"We have also sought central funds to provide assistance to help the needy who have lost their kin due to COVID-19," Vijayan added.

Kerala has been battling a fresh wave of COVID-19 since the Onam festival in late August and as of Tuesday has 64,412 active cases, the highest among the southern states.

The total infection count stood at 5,71,641, the toll at 2,095 and the recoveries touched 5,05,238.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)