Reopening schools this academic year will lead to a spike in coronavirus cases, the Indian Medical Association (IMA), Kerala branch says.

The medical body wrote a letter to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan stating that immediate measures need to be taken to control the spread of deadly disease. Exams should be conducted following covid guidelines, while schools should remain shut for this academic year, the letter stated.

"Break the chain activities should be strengthened. During celebrations, the election process, protests, social distancing norms are not being followed. This is also a reason for the increase in covid-19 cases,” IMA said.

The body’s letter came after 192 students of Class 10 and 72 staff members including teachers tested positive for coronavirus in two schools of Malappuram district.

Studies should be conducted to find out if the mutated viruses are responsible for the spread of covid-19, the body added. As per ICMR data, seroprevalence in Kerala is 11.6 percent. However, the body added that vaccination should be made available to everyone as soon as possible. The letter added that the vaccination process is going at a very slow pace, while the data analysis related to Covid-19 is not being done properly.

The quarantine process should be followed strictly and the number of tests, especially RT-PCR tests should be increased, the letter further mentioned. As of today, the active cases in Kerala are 64,390, pushing the tally to 9,77,394.