Kerala reported 35,801 new cases of COVID-19 on Sunday, when 1,23,980 samples were tested in 24 hours.
The average test positivity rate in the State has been remaining steady around 28% for the past few days and registered 28.88% on Sunday. The active case pool of the State, which has crossed 4 lakh, now has 4,23,514 patients.
While the State government continues to hold the narrative that the State has the lowest case fatality rate and that the rise in deaths is in proportion to the increase in case numbers, the fact remains that the absolute number of deaths have been rising steeply.
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From the daily average of 25-30 deaths, the number has risen to 60 in the State for the past one week. The last two days also saw huge admissions in ICUs and ventilators and these will reflect as a steep increase in mortality figures in another two weeks.
5,814 deaths
The State added 68 deaths which had occurred over the past few days to the State’s official COVID-19 toll on Sunday, taking the cumulative toll of COVID-19 fatalities in the State to 5,814 deaths. This included 16 deaths from Thrissur, 14 from Kozhikode, 10 each from Ernakulam and Thiruvananthapuram, eight from Kannur, three each from Kollam and Wayanad, two each from Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha, while one death was reported from Malappuram.
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The number of COVID-19 patients currently being treated in hospitals in the State has risen to 31,430.
ICU admissions had shown an alarming rise in the State for the past two days and a total of 2,528 persons are occupying ICUs across the State now, threatening to breach the health system’s capacity.
A total of 1,249 COVID-19 patients are on ventilator support in the State now. At present, 10,62,625 persons have been put on home or institutional isolation in the State.
On Sunday, 29,318 patients were declared to have recovered from COVID-19 and were let off from hospitals/institutions. The total recoveries till date is 14,72,951.
The cumulative case burden of the State ever since the pandemic began, now stands at 19,02,628 cases.
District-wise
Ernakulam continues to have the highest number of active cases with 67,200 patients, followed by Kozhikode (52,116), Thrissur (50,548), Malappuram (46,435) and Thiruvananthapuram (38,079).
Three districts in the State have over 50,000 active cases while another five have over 20,000 active cases.
Ernakulam also has the highest number of patients in hospitals at 4,593, while Thiruvananthapuram, with a much less active caseload than Ernakulam, still has 4,472 patients in hospital.
Among districts, Ernakulam reported the highest number of new cases with 4,767, Thiruvananthapuram 4,240, Malappuram 3,850, Kozhikode 3,805, Thrissur 3,753, Palakkad 2,881, Kollam 2,390, Kottayam 2,324, Kannur 2,297, Alappuzha 2,088, Idukki 1,046, Pathanamthitta 939, Kasaragod 766 and Wayanad 655 cases.