Thiruvananthapuram: 623 people tested positive for coronavirus and 196 patients were cured of the deadly disease in Kerala on Wednesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed during his press conference at Thiruvananthapuram.

Of the positive cases today, 432 had contracted the disease through contact. While 96 came from abroad, 76 came from other states. Source of infections of 37 cases remain unknown.

This is the second successive day when the state saw 600-plus new cases in a day. Since the first case in the country registered at Thrissur on January 30, Kerala has seen a tally of 9,553 cases.

Pinarayi cautioned the people that 60 per cent of the cases that are being registered now are asymptomatic. "This is dangerous and it means this can spread from anyone to anyone. Of the 623 cases in the day, 432 were local infectees and of them, the source of infection in 37 cases is not traced," he said.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Thiruvananthapuram – 157

Kasaragod – 74

Ernakulam – 72

Kozhikode – 64

Pathanamthitta – 64

Idukki – 55

Kannur – 35

Kottayam – 25

Alappuzha – 20

Palakkad – 19

Malappuram – 18

Kollam – 11

Thrissur – 5

Wayanad - 4

District-wise breakup of patient's cured:

Palakkad – 53

Malappuram – 44

Pathanamthitta – 19

Kasaragod – 17

Kozhikode – 15

Kottayam – 13

Thiruvananthapuram – 11

Kannur – 10

Kollam – 8

Idukki – 3

Wayanad – 1

Ernakulam – 1

Thrissur – 1

COVID deaths

Chief minister declared that the cause of death of 56-year-old Valsamma Joy from Rajakkad in Idukki district on Friday was COVID-19. Valsamma had died at a private hospital in Aluva in Ernakulam district.

Reports suggested that Malappuram district's Tirur native Abdul Khadar, 69, who died on Tuesday while under home quarantine, was later tested positive for COVID-19. Khadar had returned from Bengaluru. The health department is awaiting further tests results to confirm the cause of death.

Key points from CM's speech:

• Funds from Disaster Relief Funds to be allocated to financially constrained Local Self Governments for COVID-19 relief works. Funds may be transferred without permit from the respective DPC (district planning committee).

• Launched the third phase of 'Break the Chain Campaign' titled Jeevante Vilayulla Jagratha (Vigilance worth life).

• Every individual must maintain a list of contacts and places he or she visited in a day.

• A 2 metre social distancing must be maintained at all cost in public places.

• At least 60 per cent of the COVID patients are asymptomatic. It is therefore, possible to contract the virus from any individual, the CM warned.

• St Joseph's School at Poonthura converted to be a temporary health centre with facilities to treat 500 to 700 patients.

• Thiruvananthapuram's Karyavattom Green Field stadium to be converted into first line treatment centre.

• Checks intensified at Wayanad border.

Testing and quarantine

As many as 16,444 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the past 24 hours. Currently, 1,84,601 are under observation across the state. Out of this, 4,989 are under observation in hospitals. So far, 9,551 have tested positive for the virus. Out of this 4,880 are under treatment.
With 16 new hotspots, Kerala has a total of 234 hotspots now.

Local transmission on the rise

Kasaragod district witnessed the biggest spike in cases in recent times as 74 people tested positive. While there are only 17 imported cases among them, 57 have been infected through local transmission. Of the 57 cases, eight have no known source of infection.

The spike took the tally of confirmed cases to 768 and active cases to 298.

Most of the cases without known source of infection have been detected in northern region of the district such as Manjeswaram, Hosdurg and Mangalpadi.

Seventy-two cases were reported in Ernakulam. All but seven of them are contact cases. Thirty-nine natives of Chellanam coastal village tested positive. They were in the contact list of the local people who had tested positive earlier. Twelve more people contracted the virus in the Aluva cluster. Five family members of a Rayamangalam native who died on July 11 are among the new positive cases.

The source of infection of a 75-year-old patient from Parakkadavu has not been identified yet. A 62-year-old doctor, a Tripunithura native, of a private hospital in Ernakulam also tested positive.

The situation in Kozhikode district offers a clear picture of local transmission. Of the 64 cases reported in the district, 63 were infected through local transmission. All but one of them tested positive in the antigen tests conducted in Thooneri, Nadapuram, Vadakara and Kozhikode corporation regions.

The lone imported case in the district is a Moodadi native who returned from Kyrgisthan on July 3.

Of the 64 cases detected in Pathanamthitta district, 44 contracted the virus through contact. Seventeen people tested positive in the antigen tests conducted in Tiruvalla. They had come in contact with patients who tested positive earlier.

Idukki district where the infection rate has been relatively low saw a spike in positive cases on Wednesday as 55 tested positive. Of them, 19 contracted the virus through contact. Source of infection is not known in six cases. The six patients are an office clerk of Thoppippala, a Rajakad native who had attended a funeral, an Upputhara native who works at a veterinary hospital in Pulinkatta, a tea shop owner at Rajakumari and two natives of Vandiperiyar and Rajakumari.