Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala registered 83 fresh COVID-19 cases and 62 recoveries on Thursday, informed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at a press conference in Thiruvananthapuram.'

The state registered its 19th COVID death when Kannur resident P K Mohammed, 70, breathed his last at the Government Medical College Hospital in Pariyaram on Wednesday night. The deceased tested positive earlier in the day. 

Currently, Kerala has 1,258 active cases, while 967 persons have been cured of the disease.

District-wise split up of positive cases:

Thrissur 25

Palakkad: 13

Malappuram: 10

Kasaragod: 10

Kollam: 8

Kannur: 7

Pathanamthitta: 5

Ernakulam: 2

Kottayam: 2

Kozhikode: 1

Twenty seven infected persons came from abroad, while 37 came from other states. (Delhi: 20, Tamil Nadu: 7, Karnataka: 4, West Bengal: 6).  Fourteen people infected the disease through contact. Five of them were health workers.

Recoveries: District-wise split up

Thiruvananthapuram: 16

Kollam: 2 

Thrissur: 7

Ernakulam: 6

Palakkad: 13

Malappuram: 2

Kozhikode: 3

Kannur: 8

Kasaragod: 5

A total of 2,18,949 people are under observation in various districts. Of them, 19,022 are in hospitals.

On Thursday, 231 people were admitted to hospitals.

So far, 1,03,757 individuals (including augmented samples) have been sent for testing. Results of 2,873 samples have not received yet.

In addition, as part of sentinel surveillance, 27,118 samples were collected from priority groups, such as health workers, guest workers, social contacts. Of them, 25,757 have returned negative.

Two more regions in Palakkad have been designated as hot spots. With this, the state has 133 hotspots.

Key announcements from CM's press meet

• New rules for identifying containment zones. In panchayats, it will be identified on ward level. In corporations, it will identified on sub-ward level.

• Containment zones will be identified for a period of seven days. It will be extended after review on the 7th day. The review will done by the District Collector.

• If a person from abroad tests positive, his house and neighbouring houses will be declared as containment zone.

• Government will encourage 'Work Near Home' initiative to ensure those don't have Work From Home facilities can continue their work.

• MLAs Local Development Funds can be distributed to help students who don't have the paraphernalia to attend online classes. Local libraries will be augmented with the necessary facilities too.

• Kerala police have launched a new initiative, e-Vidyarambam, to ensure that students from disadvantaged communities, especially in tribal areas, have access to TV, Laptop, Smartphone for attending online classes.