In a sharp drop, Kerala on Wednesday recorded 6,244 COVID-19 cases, when 50,056 samples were tested.
The test positivity rate, which was 18.16% the previous day, plunged to 12.4% on Wednesday with no explanation.
Last week too, the State’s case graph had dived mid-week, only to go up the next day and the shift was attributed to a statistical aberration. With 20 more deaths from previous weeks being added to the official list, the State’s cumulative deaths stood at 1,066. Malappuram and Thiruvananthapuram accounted for six deaths each, two deaths each were reported from Alappuzha, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode while Kollam and Kannur reported one death each.
Karnataka on Wednesday reported 9,265 new cases while 75 new deaths were also added to the toll. The day’s positivity rate stood at 8.14%, and Case Fatality Rate touched 0.81%. Bengaluru Urban reported 4,574 cases and 27 of the 75 deaths.
Over a 24-hour period, 1,13,771 tests were conducted including 39,111 rapid antigen tests.
Telangana recorded 1,446 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday.
On October 13, the number of tests stood at 40,056 and 1,446 tested positive. Eight more COVID-19 patients died. The new cases included 252 from Greater Hyderabad, 135 from Rangareddy, 131 from Medchal Malkajgiri, 74 from Karimnagar, and 58 from Nalgonda.
From March 2 to October 13, a total of 36,64,152 tests were conducted.
Andhra Pradesh had less than 4,000 new cases, at 3,892, on Wednesday. For the first time in three months, the State registered less than 30 deaths, at 28.
Samples tested touched 69,463 samples and the positivity rate was 5.60%.
East Godavari once again reported the highest single-day case tally and three districts the highest number of deaths in the past day.
(With inputs from Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Vijayawada bureaus)
