Kerala has been emerging as an epicentre of what would possibly become the third wave of the Covid-19 pandemic as the state has been reporting 80% of India's total daily Covid-19 cases. In what has become a double whammy to the state, Kerala has been battling the pandemic along with another invisible menace of the Nipah virus, which had posed an imminent ordeal to its territory and to its neighbours. As Kerala shares most of its border with Tamil Nadu, the latter has been gearing up measures to monitor the movement of people between the borders.

Kerala has been reporting deaths due to Nipah virus infection for the past few days. According to Kerala Health Minister Veena George, a 12-year-old boy died on Sunday due to Nipah at a hospital in Kozhikode. As Kerala is fighting the diseases, Tamil Nadu has deployed mechanisms to monitor people who arrive from Kerala through nine bordering districts. Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has on Sunday said that the measures are taken to curb the spread of Nipah in the state through strictly monitoring the borders where people from Kerala enter Tamil Nadu. 

While speaking to the reporters, Subramanian said, "We have been monitoring the nine districts that share a border with Kerala already and we have been conducting a door-to-door awareness campaign in the districts in light of the spread of Zika virus and we have issued an advisory to district health officials to expedite measures including conducting fever camps in the wake of the Nipah virus." 

He said that the health officials are instructed to hold fever camps at the entry points in the border districts apart from conducting thermal screening of the passengers and added that Tamil Nadu has been allowing the people from Kerala to enter the state only if they possess a valid Covid-19 vaccination certificate or a negative report from RT-PCR test. Earlier, the Kerala government has given major relaxations and the state had also celebrated the Onam festival akin to that of the pre-Covid world. 

The experts have warned that Kerala could write the prefix for the third wave of the pandemic if the current trend continues and said that the state is pushed to encounter the spike in cases after more relaxations. However, the Kerala health department has been affirming that the situation is under control and the government has been unfolding the measures to mitigate the spread. The Tamil Nadu government has ordered that the people who are entering the state from Kerala must have a vaccination certificate and Covid-19 negative test results taken within 72 hours of the journey. 

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan has also affirmed that the measures are taken at the border. He said that the people who enter Tamil Nadu from Kerala were screened not only for Covid-19 but also for other communicable diseases like Zika and Nipah. He asserted, "We are monitoring the people who enter Tamil Nadu continuously and there is no need to panic about the Nipah virus. However, the people should not show apathy towards following the government guidelines." 

Health Department officials of the nine districts that border with Kerala are urged to conduct surveillance for all communicable diseases like Zika and Nipah. According to the Union Health Ministry, India has reported 38,948 new Covid-19 cases, 43,903 recoveries, and 219 deaths in the last 24 hours till 8 am on Monday. Overall, the country has recorded 4,04,874 active cases, 3,21,81,995 recoveries, and 4,40,752 deaths so far in the last 24 hours. Of 38,948 new cases and 219 deaths, Kerala has recorded 26,701 cases and 74 deaths.