Kerala reported 29,673 new COVID-19 cases and 41,032 recoveries on Friday.
With this, the number of active COVID cases in the state fell to 3,06,346.
So far, 19,79,919 have been cured of the disease.
In wake of the ongoing crisis, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the existing lockdown will be extended until May 30.
Triple lockdown will be withdrawn in Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Ernakulam districts following a noticeable decline in Test Positivity Rate (TPR), i.e. the number of people likely to contract the virus in a group of 100. However, strict curbs will continue in Malappuram where it remains high.
Friday's TPR in the State is 22.22.
Vijayan also said that the government will take necessary measures to ensure enough medicines to treat black fungus, a disease that's on the rise in India.
Recently it was declared as an epidemic by the Indian government. Awareness campaigns will be carried out across the state on black fungus, Vijayan said.
Of the new cases reported on Friday, 27,353 contracted the virus through contact while 215 came from outside the state and 129 are healthcare workers.
A total of 1,33,558 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.
So far, 1,85,55,023 samples have been sent for testing.
Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram and Ernakulam districts reported the most cases - 4151, 3499 and 3102 respectively.
A total of 142 COVID deaths too were confirmed on Friday.
With this, the COVID death toll in the state rose to 6,994.
There are currently 9,88,009 people under observation across the state.
Of them, 9,49,300 are under home or institutional quarantine while 38,709 are in hospitals.
Here's the district-wise break-up in today's cases:
Thiruvananthapuram - 4,151 (contact cases - 3,836)
Malappuram - 3,499 (3,363)
Ernakulam - 3,102 (2,984)
Palakkad - 3,040 (1,746)
Kollam - 2,745 (2,736)
Thrissur - 2,481 (2,468)
Kozhikode - 2,382 (2,341)
Alappuzha - 2,072 (2,057)
Kottayam - 1,760 (1,600)
Kannur - 1,410 (1,293)
Idukki - 1,111 (1,068)
Pathanamthitta - 878 (863)
Kasaragod - 650 (636)
Wayanad - 392 (362)
Here's the district-wise break-up of today's recoveries:
Thrissur - 6,814
Kollam - 5,524
Malappuram - 4,613
Thiruvananthapuram - 4,584
Ernakulam - 3,118
Palakkad - 3,055
Kannur - 2,649
Kozhikode - 2,450
Alappuzha - 2,104
Pathanamthitta - 1,660
Idukki - 1,500
Kottayam - 1,486
Kasaragod - 915
Wayanad - 560
