Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala reported 7,871 new COVID-19 cases and 4,981 recoveries on Tuesday. With this, the number of active cases in the state rose to 87,738.
Of them, 6,910 contracted the virus through contact, an indicator that local transmission continues unabated in the state.
The fact that infection source of 640 contact cases remains unknown has also been a major cause for concern.
Fifty-four infected persons came from abroad while 146 came from other states.
111 healthcare workers contract disease
Healthcare workers too were among the many who contracted the infection through contact.
On Tuesday, 111 healthcare workers tested positive for the virus. They include 32 from Kannur, 16 from Thiruvananthapuram, 13 from Pathanamthitta, 12 from Thrissur, 11 from Ernakulam, 8 from Kozhikode, 5 each from Malappuram and Kasaragod, 3 from Palakkad, and 2 each from Kollam, Kottayam and Wayanad. Ten INHS workers in Ernakulam contracted the virus.
COVID deaths
Twenty-five deaths were reported in the state on Tuesday, taking the death toll to 884.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned that failure to adhere to COVID-19 protocol would undo all the good work done by the State and the healthcare workers. He said Kerala has reported 24 deaths for every 10 lakh people and it is way above than the national average. "At the national level, it is 90 death per 10 lakh people. The Covid-19 fatality rate in the State is 0.36 per cent while for India, it is 1.55 per cent," he said.
Tests ramped up
Vijayan said Kerala has ramped up testing. "For every million people, 92,078 tests are being done in the state. In India, this number is 77,054. The test positivity rate in Kerala is 7.2 per cent compared to India's 8.3 per cent," he said.
Despite being a densely populated state, Kerala was able to curb the spread of infection, Vijayan said. "This became possible because of the measures we had taken and the vigil of the public, and no doubt, the efforts of our healthcare workers," he added.
Here's the district-wise break-up of today's cases:
Thiruvananthapuram - 989 (892 contact cases)
Malappuram - 854 (793)
Kollam - 845 (833)
Ernakulam - 837 (688)
Thrissur - 757 (733)
Kozhikode - 736 (691)
Kannur -545 (398)
Palakkad - 520 (293)
Kottayam - 427 (424)
Alappuzha - 424 (406)
Kasaragod - 416 (393)
Pathanamthitta - 330 (218)
Wayanad - 135 (124)
Idukki - 56 (24)
Recoveries
Kerala reported 4,981 recoveries on Tuesday. With this, 1,54,092 have been cured of the virus in the state.
Here's the district-wise break-up of today's recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram - 850
Malappuram - 541
Kollam - 485
Ernakulam - 337
Thrissur - 380
Kozhikode - 628
Kannur - 251
Palakkad - 276
Kottayam - 361
Alappuzha - 302
Kasaragod - 202
Pathanamthitta - 180
Wayanad - 102
Idukki - 86
Key points from CM's press briefing:
COVID protocol will be strictly implemented in markets and public places.
Symptomatic persons in Ernakulam may contact the special helplines setup at the local body level
RT-PCR test will be done on all COVID suspects even if their antigen tests return negative.
Efforts will be taken to keep test positivity rate below 10 in all districts.
The ICMR's sero surveillance survey showed that Kerala's efforts to contain the virus spread was highly effective. (The sero-surveillance conducted in August revealed that 0.8 per cent of the population had contracted the disease and recovered. This was 0.33 in May. At the national level, the figure rose to 6.6 per cent in September from 0.73 in May).
COVID testing and quarantine
There are currently 2,63,094 people under observation across the state. Of them, 2,33,703 are under home / institutional quarantine while 29,391 are in hospitals. A total of 2,444 people were admitted to the hospital on Tuesday.
With 60,494 samples tested in the last 24 hours, 32,63,691 samples have been tested so far. In addition, as part of Sentinel Surveillance, 2,09,482 samples were sent for testing from priority groups such as health workers, guest workers and individuals with greater social contact.
