Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala continued to shatter its single-day record for new cases with 791 people testing positive for COVID-19 on Friday.

A majority of them – 532 – contracted the disease through contact, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed during his press conference at Thiruvananthapuram on Friday.

However, the health department could not trace the source of 42 cases. Of the remaining infected persons, 135 came from abroad while 98 returned from other states. Fifteen health workers, seven KSC workers and one ITBP and fire force personnel each too contracted the disease on Friday.

This was the second straight day that new COVID-19 cases breached the 700-mark.

Kerala has so far reported 11,606 COVID-19 cases, out of which 6,029 are still active.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Kasaragod: 32

Kannur: 9

Wayanad: 28

Kozhikode: 32

Malappuram: 25

Palakkad: 31

Thrissur: 32

Ernakulam: 115

Idukki: 11

Kottayam: 39

Alappuzha: 57

Pathanamthitta: 87

Kollam: 47

Thiruvananthapuram: 246

District-wise breakup of patients cured:

Kasaragod: 9

Kannur: 8

Wayanad: 4

Kozhikode: 9

Malappuram: 32

Thrissur: 32

Ernakulam: 5

Idukki: 5

Kottayam: 8

Alappuzha: 6

Pathanamthitta:

Kollam: 7

Thiruvananthapuram: 8

One COVID death

Chief minister has announced that Thrissur native Shyju,46, died of COVID-19 on Friday.

Test result of Murali, 40, who had died by suicide on July 14 returned positive today. “He did not die because of COVID-19. Hence his name would not be included in the official COVID-19 death list,” chief minister said.

Key points from CM's speech:

• Several regions in Thiruvananthapuram have been designated as high risk zones. COVID cases are spreading fast here.

• More restrictions will come into place in Thiruvananthapuram. Of 246 cases in the capital, 2 came from abroad. 237 contracted the disease through contact. Of them, four are healthcare workers.

• Coastal regions will go under total lockdown from Saturday. Three zones will be identified.

• Thiruvananthapuram City commissioner Balram Kumar has been entrusted with overseeing the enforcement of new restrictions. A control room will be set up to monitor the situation. Janamaithri police too will be roped in to ensure that social distancing and lockdown norms are strictly adhered to. Travel will be restricted and only essential purposes will be allowed

• Priority will be given to set up first-line treatment centres in Thiruvananthapuram district.

• In Ernakulam, three active clusters have been identified. They are: Chelannam, Aluva, Keimmad.

• In Kannur, several places have been designated containment zones to curb the likelihood of community transmission.

• Strict actions will be taken against those spreading fake news regarding COVID-19 on social media.

• Twelve cases have been registered against those who violated quarantine norms.

Contact cases spike across Kerala

Pathanamthitta district is witnessing a spike in the number of COVID cases with 87 more people testing positive. Of the latest cases, 57 contracted the virus through local transmission while 30 are returnees from abroad and other states.

Of the 57 contact cases, seven were detected in rapid antigen tests. They had come in contact with infected people.

Fifty-seven more cases were confirmed in Alappuzha. Forty of them contracted the virus through contact. Source of infection is not known in three cases.

Twenty-three people have been infected after coming in contact with a worker of a seafood factory at Ezhupunna. Of them, 15 are natives of Ezhupunna while two are from Cherthala and one each from Kadakkarapally, Panavally, Chandiroor, Vayalar, Kodamthuruth and Pattanakad. Thirteen people in the contact list of the patients in Chellanam harbour also tested positive.

Cases without no known source of income are two Kadakkarappalli natives and a 19-year-old girl of Andhakaranazhi. One of the Kadakkarappalli natives, a fisherman at Fort Kochi, tested positive in Kottayam medical college, and the other patient, a 27-year-old-woman, tested positive in a private hospital.

In Kollam, 47 more people tested positive. Of them, 20 are contact cases with source of infection remaining unknown in nine cases.

The patients whose source of infection is not known include a headload worker at Kavanad, a woman who works at a hypermarket in Oyoor and a staff member of a mobile shop at Kottiyam.

Of the 39 new cases in Kottayam, nine contracted the virus through contact. The contact cases include two workers in Ettumanoor fish market and three health workers.

Source of infection is not clear in six cases. They include two auto drivers in Pravithanam market junction.

Testing and quarantine

In last 24 hours, 16,642 samples sent for testing. Apart from this, 88,903 samples were collected as part of the sentinal surveillance. Of this, 84,484 returned negative.

On Friday alone, 1,152 people admitted in various hospitals in the state.

Twenty new hotspots were announced on Friday while six places were exempted from the list. At present, Kerala has 285 hotspots.