Thiruvananthapuram: India was projected to record the highest number of births in the 9 months since COVID-19 was declared a pandemic in March 2020, but the southern state of Kerala tells a different story.
A state government data indicated that Kerala is facing a slump in births during the pandemic, contrary to the prediction that the lockdown period would witness a baby boom as the couples confined to their homes will engage more in procreation.
Kerala had witnessed 37,138 births in July 2020. But the state in July 2021 saw a slump in births to 10,684, indicating a sharp decline in the live births during COVID-19 pandemic.
According to it, the first nine months of this year saw a steeper decline in live births in the southern state.
The state had recorded 36,414 births in January 2020 but it slumped to 30,335 in January 2021.
The birth figures for the months ending September this year were their lowest in the recent decades, indicated the data from Kerala's Chief Registrar of Birth and Deaths.
In March 2020, a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report had said that an estimated 116 million babies will be born in India under the shadow of COVID-19 pandemic.
These babies are projected to be born up to 40 weeks after COVID-19 was recognised as a pandemic on March 11, the UNICEF report had said.
