Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 graph continued to rise in steadily as another 107 more tested positive for the disease on Sunday. With this, the total number of COVID-19 cases reported in the State has gone up to 1,914, the Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a statement.
As many as 41 patients tested negative on Sunday. The number of active cases in the State is now at 1,095, while 803 people recovered from the disease.
This is the third consecutive day that the state reported over 100 new cases.
The infection rate is showing a quantum jump every week. In the seven days from May 18 to May 24, there were 246 new cases, an infection rate of 35 cases per day.
In the following seven days, from May 25 to June 31, there were 422 new cases, an infection rate of 60 new cases a day.
And in the last seven days, when there were three consecutive 100-plus fresh-case days and a total of 645 new cases, the daily infection rate has swelled to over 92.
On May 8, when those from outside started to trickle in, the doubling time of the infection was a commendable 347.61 days. Meaning, at the rate of infection that prevailed then, it would have taken nearly a year for the number of COVID-19 cases to double.
But now, the doubling time has come down to a disturbing 11.24 days.
District–wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Malappuram – 27
Thrissur – 26
Pathanamthitta – 13
Kollam – 9
Alappuzha – 7
Palakkad – 6
Kozhikode – 6
Thiruvananthapuram – 4
Kottayam – 3
Kasaragod – 3
Kannur – 2
Idukki – 1
District-wise breakup of today's recoveries:
Thrissur – 14 (two Palakkad natives)
Kasaragod – 6
Palakkad – 5
Kannur – 5
Kollam – 3
Alappuzha – 3
Thiruvananthapuram – 1
Pathanamthitta – 1
Kottayam – 1
Malappuram – 1
Kozhikode – 1 (Thrissur native)
Most of those who tested positive are returnees from abroad (71), followed by those who came back from other states (28). Thirty-nine patients came from UAE; 21 from Kuwait, four from Saudi Arabia, two each from Russia and Tajikistan and one each from Qatar, Oman and Italy.
The split-up of those from other states: Maharashtra – 15, Tamil Nadu – 7, Delhi – 4, Gujarat – 1, Telangana – 1.
Eight patients contracted the disease through contact – three from Thrissur, two each from Malappuram and Palakkad, one from Kollam.
Malappuram reported the most number of cases on Sunday – 27. This is the biggest single-day spike in the district. Of the 27, 24 came from abroad and two contracted the disease through contacts. It is not clear how the remaining one person was infected. There are 148 active cases in the district. It is second to Palakkad in the number of active cases.
Thrissur also reported the biggest single-day spike in cases with 26 testing positive. Of them, 23 are returnees from abroad and other states. Three contracted the disease through contacts. The district has 89 active cases. Meanwhile, 14 patients, including two Palakkad natives, who had been undergoing treatment in Thrissur tested negative. There aren't any hotspots in the district.
Pathanamthitta also reported two-digit cases. Of the 13 new cases, eight are from abroad (three each from Dubai and Kuwait and two from Au Dhabi). Five came from other states (three from Delhi and one each from Chennai and Surat). Of the returnees from Delhi, two are pregnant women.
All the six new cases reported in Kozhikode are returnees from abroad. A Thrissur native woman who was undergoing treatment at MVR Cancer Centre tested negative.
In Kottayam, three more cases were reported. One of them came from Muscat and two from Maharashtra. The Muscat returnee's wife had tested positive earlier and is hospitalised. The lone case reported in Idukki is the wife of a Chakkupallam native COVID patient who came back from Delhi on May 31.
Out of the seven positive cases in Alappuzha, six came from abroad and one from Chennai.
Of the six new patients in Palakkad, one came from abroad and two from other states. Three were infected through contacts. The son, grandchild and the brother of an elderly woman who succumbed to COVID-19 recently are those who contracted the disease through contacts. The district now has 159 active cases. Two other natives of the district are undergoing treatment in Malappuram.
Kasaragod reported three new cases. Two of them are returnees from Maharashtra and one from Kuwait. Six tested negative.
Of the 1,91,481 people under observation in Kerala for suspected infection, 1,89,765 are home/institutional quarantined and 1,621 hospitalised. As many as 277 people were hospitalised on Sunday.
Of the 83,875 samples sent for tests, 79,957 have turned negative. Samples of 22,324 people among priority groups were tested as part of sentinel surveillance. Of them, 20,362 have turned negative. In the past 24 hours, 4,316 samples were sent for tests. The state has conducted a total of 1,11,930 tests, including 5,731 repeat samples, so far.
There are 144 hotspots in the state. Newly designated hotspots are Eruvessy, Udayagiri, Managattidam and Kuttiattoor in Kannur district, Koduvayoor in Palakkad and Panamaram in Wayanad.
