Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala reported 6,293 new coronavirus positive cases after 59,995 tests on Saturday. The state also registered 4,749 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the Health department informed in a press statement.
The state has reported 7,00,158 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 6,36,814 persons recovered. The remaining 60,396 patients are undergoing treatment. The test positivity rate stands at 10.49.
Of the new cases, 5,578 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 593 among them is unknown.
As many as 73 infected persons came from outside the state.
With 29 deaths being reported on Saturday, the state's death toll has risen to 2,786.
Kerala Health Minister K K Shailaja on Saturday warned of a spike in COVID-19 cases, days after the local body elections in the state, and asked people to be ‘extremely careful’ for the next few weeks.
The health minister also advised the public to self- quarantine and remain patient until a vaccine for the pandemic is made available. “It’s not time yet to go shopping with kids or to entertain huge gatherings for weddings and festivities. We need to remain patient until a vaccine is available.
Testing and quarantine
A total of 2,89,910 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 2,76,377 are under home or institutional quarantine and 13,533 are in hospitals.
1,474 people were admitted in hospitals on Saturday.
So far, 72,93,518 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.
On Saturday, four more regions have been converted into hotspots and four have been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 458 in the state.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam - 826 (contact cases – 644)
Kozhikode - 777 (753)
Malappuram - 657 (616)
Thrissur - 656 (640)
Kottayam - 578 (560)
Alappuzha - 465 (447)
Kollam - 409 (400)
Palakkad - 390 (208)
Pathanamthitta - 375 (289)
Thiruvananthapuram - 363 (291)
Kannur - 268 (218)
Wayanad - 239 (237)
Idukki - 171 (164)
Kasaragod - 119 (111)
District-wise breakup of recoveries:
Malappuram – 664
Kozhikode – 618
Ernakulam – 606
Kottayam – 462
Thrissur – 442
Kannur – 330
Thiruvananthapuram – 315
Kollam – 309
Alappuzha – 262
Palakkad – 238
Pathanamthitta – 185
Wayanad – 157
Idukki – 93
Kasaragod – 68