At the 12-hour #SwasthyaMantra telethon, KK Shailaja, Minister of Health & Social Welfare, Kerala said that the state is having one of the longest drawn pandemics in the world. Ms Shailaja said that up to May 3, they had 499 cases and the mortality rate at that time was less than 1 per cent. But as the lockdown restrictions were lifted, about 10 lakh people came back to Kerala which lead to an increase in the number of cases, despite the appropriate protocols in place.