Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 6 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday slammed Leader of Opposition Ramesh Chennithala for his frequent outbursts against the way the state government is handling the COVID situation in the state.

"Do not know why he has such a peculiar sort of attitude. He has been at it time and again, but the people of Kerala are watching everything. What he fails to realize is that he is deflating the morale of the health professionals and it's our responsibility to give all the support to these health professionals," said Vijayan.

"He (Chennithala) is attacking the government as if the police have been given all the power to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a misleading statement meant to create panic in the minds of the people. Today, there are more positive cases, more people are under isolation and quarantine and hence there is a change in strategy. The police have been given more work, but the job of the health professionals remains the same and they will continue to do what they have been doing, and their job has not been handed over to the police, as Chennithala claims," added Vijayan.

The Chief Minister clarified that the police will have an increased workload as they, with the help of the mobile companies, have to do the contact tracing.

Vijayan pointed out that the spread of Covid-19 in the coastal hamlets of the state capital has come down, but the danger still exists.

"The authorities can't let their guard down and all should cooperate to prevent the spread of the virus. Any let down on any front will see the surging return, especially in clusters," said Vijayan.

The Chief Minister said that Kerala on Wednesday recorded 1,195 new COVID cases, while 1,234 patients were cured of the disease.

"Of the total new cases, 971 were local infectees. There are 515 hotspots in the state at present," said Vijayan.

Presently there are 11,492 positive cases in Kerala, while 17,537 persons have been cured of the disease.