COVID-19 continues to surge in Kerala, with 8,135 new cases being added on to the State’s tally on Thursday, when 59,157 samples were tested in 24 hours.
The cumulative COVID-19 case burden of the State thus crossed the two lakh mark to reach 2,04,241 cases. Test positivity rate remains steady at 13.7%.
The number of recoveries reported on Thursday was 2,828. With total recoveries reported till date reaching 1,31,052 cases, the number of COVID-19 patients currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals across districts is 72,339. Of these, 481 persons are critically ill and are being treated in ICUs, with another 115 patients put on ventilator support.
District-wise active cases
Thiruvananthapuram has the highest number of active cases in the State at 11,487, followed by Ernakulam with 8,583 cases, Kozhikode 7,723, Malappuram 6,279, Kollam 6,242 and Alappuzha 5,105. Idukki and Wayanad, which used to have less than 600 active cases a week ago, now have 1,063 and 1,043 cases each respectively.
29 more deaths
The State’s COVID-19 toll reached 771, as another 29 deaths which occurred between September 1 and September 30 were added on to the official list of COVID-19 deaths on Thursday. Thiruvananthapuram accounted for nine of these deaths, Ernakulam seven, Thrissur six, Kasaragod three, Kollam three and one death in Alappuzha.
Of the new cases reported on Thursday, 7,850 cases (96.4%) are locally acquired infections, which include 730 cases wherein the source of infection remained untraceable. It also included the infections reported in 105 health-care workers — 29 cases in Thiruvananthapuram, 26 in Kannur and 16 in Ernakulam.
Slight relief for capital
Among districts, Thiruvananthapuram, which had remained on top for over two months, recording the maximum number of COVID-19 cases, has fallen to the fourth place as the case graph has begun to rise in other districts.
On Thursday, Kozhikode reported the maximum number of cases at 1,072, Malappuram 968, Ernakulam 934, Thiruvananthapuram 856, Alapuzha 804, Kollam 633, Thrissur 613, Palakkad 513, Kasaragod 471, Kannur 435, Kottayam 340, Pathanamthitta 223, Wayanad 143 and Idukki 130 cases.
The number of hotspots in the State at present is 656.
