In Kerala, COVID-19 daily cases remain high but graph appears to plateau

Kerala reports 32,803 new cases on Wednesday, while the test positivity rate (TPR)stands at 18.76%

A customer shows his vaccination certificate to buy liquor from Kerala State Beverages Corporation outlet in Kochi. File photo

The State logged 32,803 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday when 1,74,854 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. The test positivity rate (TPR) on the day remained steady at 18.76%.

The case graph, which had shown a dramatic rise in active transmission between August 21-28, appears to have slowed down and plateau at a slightly higher rate of 30,000-32,000 new cases daily. However, hospitalisations and ICU occupancy figures showed an increase for the sixth consecutive day on Wednesday.

Current ICU occupancy of COVID-19 patients in both public and private hospitals in the State continues to rise and went up from 2,336 on Tuesday to 2,354 on Wednesday, while the number of patients requiring ventilator support went up from 1,002 to 1,022 respectively.

The State’s active case pool has risen, to register 2,29,912 patients presently, with 21,610 patients reported to have recovered on Wednesday.

Deaths up

Meanwhile, COVID-19 deaths continue to show a rise in the State. Even when the State claims that it has the lowest case fatality rate, in absolute numbers, this comes as huge. The official cumulative COVID case fatality in the State now stands at 20,961, with Kerala adding 173 deaths, most of which occurred in the past few days, to the official list of COVID deaths on Wednesday.

New hospitalisations showed a huge jump on Wednesday. The number of patients newly admitted to hospitals with the disease went up from 2,698 on Tuesday to 3,227 on Wednesday. Total hospitalisations of those with moderate or severe disease are also on a steady rise and it went up from 31,707 to 32,705.

The cumulative case burden of the State ever since the pandemic began now stands at 40,90,036 cases.

Among districts, Thrissur reported the highest number of new cases on Wednesday with 4,425 cases, Ernakulam 4,324, Kozhikode 3,251, Malappuram 3,099, Kollam 2,663, Thiruvananthapuram 2,579, Palakkad 2,309, Kottayam 2,263, Alappuzha 1,975, Kannur 1,657, Pathanamthitta 1363, Wayanad 1,151, Idukki 1,130 and Kasaragod 614 cases.