With COVID-19 testing picking up in the State after the Onam lull, more new cases are also being reported.
The State’s case graph, which had been on a steady climb since August, had shown a slight dip during the Onam days, with case numbers going down by thousand a day.
On Friday, with sample testing going up to 36,310, the number of fresh cases reported also went up to 2,479. It turned out to be a day when the maximum number of recoveries – 2,716 – were reported on a single day.
The cumulative case burden now is 82,104, with more than half of these cases being reported in the month of August alone.
The official cumulative death toll went up to 326 on Friday, with the Health Department confirming 11 more COVID deaths. Three of the deaths were in Thiruvananthapuram, two each in Malappuram, Thrissur and Kannur, and one each in Kollam and Kasaragod.
Nearly 62% of the total deaths were also reported in the month of August.
With the total recoveries reported so far being 60,448, the number of patients currently undergoing treatment is 21,268.
In a total contrast to the earlier epidemic picture of the State, when over 90% of the cases used to be reported in those with a travel history outside Kerala and abroad, nearly 95% of the cases being reported now are in persons with no travel history.
Around 82% of the deaths are occurring among this category, indicating that community transmission is intense in the State, while its proportion might vary between districts.
On Friday, 2,349 out of the 2,479 new cases reported were locally acquired infections, with the source of infection remaining untraceable in 149 cases. This includes 34 health-care workers. In August alone, the number of health-care workers who tested positive is 1,062, according to official data.
Thiruvananthapuram’s graph went up again on Friday with the district reporting 477 cases, of which all except four cases are locally acquired infections.
Among other districts, Ernakulam reported 274 cases, Kollam 248, Kasaragod 236, Thrissur 204, Kottayam 178, Malappuram 178, Kozhikode 167, Pathanamthitta 141, Kannur 115, Alappuzha 106, Wayanad 84, Palakkad 42 and Idukki 29.
The number of hotspots in the State at present is 557.
