Kerala’s COVID-19 curve remains on an extended plateau, as the low level of disease transmission has continued throughout the State over the past one month, with the test positivity rate remaining steady between 9% and 11%.
While new cases have generally begun to show a declining trend, there has been no let-up in the mortality. The State is now bracing for another peak, with disease monitoring indicators in some northern districts showing a spike.
On Friday, Kerala reported 5,718 new cases when 57,456 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the State’s cumulative case burden to 6,25,767. The test positivity rate was 9.95%. With 5,496 more patients recovering and getting discharged from hospitals, the State’s active caseload has now dropped to 61,401. So far, 5,61,874 recoveries have been reported in the State.
29 deaths
The addition of 29 more deaths to the official death list on Friday has taken the State’s toll to 2,358. Malappuram reported seven of these deaths, Kottayam six, Kollam five, Ernakulam and Kozhikode three each, Thrissur and Wayanad two each and Thiruvananthapuram one.
According to official data, 867 COVID-19 patients in the State are at critically ill and being treated in ICUs in various hospitals, with 215 requiring ventilator support.
Of the 5,718 new cases reported on Friday, 5,623 are locally acquired infections, with the authorities unable to establish the epidemiological link in 572 cases. The number of health-care workers who contracted the infection was 60. In 95 cases, health officials have reported a history of travel outside the State.
Among districts, Malappuram reported 943 cases, Kozhikode 773, Kottayam 570, Thrissur 528, Ernakulam 486, Palakkad 447, Alappuzha 394, Kollam 318, Thiruvananthapuram 279, Kannur 275, Idukki 216, Wayanad 180, Pathanamthitta 163 and Kasaragod 146 cases.
