Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 18 (IANS): Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Monday dismissed the news of Covid spread in the state as by "some vested interests" attempting to create a panic.

"Some vested interests are trying to spread a panic of the spread of Covid. The fact of the matter is authorities are constantly watching things and all things are in place. From November onwards, samples are promptly being sent for testing," she said.

"Last month among the samples that were sent for testing, one sample of a 79-year-old man tested from the capital district turned positive for JN1 variant. He was under home isolation and has been cured and is fine," George added.

"Incidentally last month Singapore identified that 15 people who travelled from India as positive for JN1 and this means that this variant is present in other states, but in Kerala, due to our protocols, we were able to identify it. All our systems are in place and from December 13 to16, a drill was conducted in 1,192 hospitals across the state to assess the availability of facilities. At the moment we have kept 1,957 beds, 2,454 ICU beds and 937 ventilator beds. Hence there need be no worry," the minister said.

The Congress-led opposition slammed the Pinarayi Vijayan government for being busy with their state-wide yatra and not doing anything as according to the figures released by the Centre on Sunday, of the total 1,828 active cases in the country, 1,634 cases are now in Kerala.

On Sunday, Kerala recorded 111 fresh cases out of the 122 in the country. More importantly, one Covid death was also reported in the state.