Kerala's single-day COVID-19 case count crossed the 2,000-mark for the second time with 2,172 new infections being reported on Saturday.
This is the second highest single-day spike reported in the state. In the past five days, more than 10,000 cases have been reported in the state taking the tally to 56k.
On Saturday, 1,964 contracted the disease through contact. Of them, the sources of infection of 163 are yet to be traced.
Of the new cases, 52 infected came from abroad while 102 came from other states.
Fifty-four health workers too contracted the virus. They include 14 from Palakkad district, 11 from Malappuram, 9 from Thiruvananthapuram, 8 from Thrissur, 5 from Kasaragod, 3 from Ernakulam, 2 from Kozhikode and 1 each from Wayanad and Kannur districts.
The state also recorded 1,292 recoveries on the day, according to an evening update by the Health Ministry.
Fifteen deaths have also been reported taking the official toll to 218.
The state has reported 56,354 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 36,539 persons recovered. The remaining 19,538 patients are being treated in various hospitals.
The daily case count crossed 2,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday with 2,333 infections. The daily case count stayed above 1,900 in the next two days with 1,968 cases being reported on Thursday and 1,983 on Friday.
From when the first case was confirmed in the state on January 30, 2020, it took 168 days, or five-and-a-half months to reach the 10k-mark on July 16. However, it took only 12 more days to cross the 20,000 tally. The numbers soared past the 50k-mark in the next 22 days.
Here's the break-up of today's positive cases:
Thiruvananthapuram - 464
Malappuram - 395
Kozhikode - 232
Palakkad - 184
Thrissur - 179
Kasaragod - 119
Ernakulam - 114
Kottayam - 104
Pathanamthitta - 93
Alappuzha - 87
Kollam - 77
Kannur - 62
Idukki - 37
Wayanad - 25
Here's the break-up of today's recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram - 290
Kollam - 65
Pathanamthitta - 29
Alappuzha - 125
Kottayam - 92
Idukki - 46
Ernakulam - 98
Thrissur - 50
Palakkad - 89
Malappuram - 240
Kozhikode - 20
Wayanad - 52
Kannur - 56
Kasaragod - 40
There is no sign of fall in infection rate in Thiruvananthapuram. On Saturday, the capital district reported 464 cases. Of them, 401 contracted the virus through local transmission. A worrying 10 per cent of them – 40 cases – have no known source of infection.
The high infection rate in Malappuram continued on Saturday as well with 395 more cases being reported from there. This is the highest single-day spike of COVID cases in the district. Of the 395 cases, 377 got infected through local transmission of the virus. Source of infection is not known in 13 cases including 11 healthcare workers. Nine of the healthcare workers who tested positive belong to Manjeri.
In Kozhikode, 232 people tested positive. Of them, 189 are contact cases. Source is not known in 24 cases. Within the limits of Kozhikode corporation alone, 189 people contracted the virus through contact. Seventeen people tested positive in Cherod and 14 in Mavoor.
Of the 184 cases in Palakkad, 146 contracted the disease through contact. These include 14 cases without known source of infection. Seventeen people tested positive in Kalpathy alone. Four staff members of the Sevana Hospital, Pattambi and four of Railway Hospital are among those tested positive.
Of the 179 cases reported in Thrissur, 159 contracted the disease through contact. Source is not known in 32 cases. There are nine health workers and four frontline workers among those tested positive. Most of the cases – 28 – were reported in Amala cluster.
Of the 114 cases in Ernakulam, 111 are contact cases. Seventeen people tested positive in Thrikkakara and 16 in Chellanam.
Kottayam reported 104 cases with 97 of them being contact cases. Most of the cases were reported in Kottayam municipality – 21. Eleven cases each were reported from Erattupetta and Mundakkayam. Ten people tested positive in Vijayapuram.
Contact cases in other districts:
Pathanamthitta - 65
Alappuzha - 83
Kollam - 75
Kannur - 57
Idukki - 17
Wayanad - 23
Testing and quarantine
There are currently 1,80,249 people under observation across the state. Of them, 1,63,738 are under home/institution quarantine while 16,511 are in hospitals.
A total of 2,699 people were admitted to the hospital on Saturday.
The State has ramped up testing in wake of the recent surge in cases. During the last 24 hours, 37,027 samples were tested.
A total of 13,86,775 samples have been sent for testing so far. In addition, as part of Sentinel Surveillance, 1,61,361 more samples were sent for testing from priority groups.
Twenty-five new regions have been designated as hotspots. There are currently 616 hotspots in the state.