The Kerala government on Thursday announced a complete nine-day lockdown from May 8 to 16.
Strict lockdown-like restrictions are already in place and the government decided on a complete shutdown as cases spiked. On Thursday, 42,464 cases were reported from 1,55,632 samples and the test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 27.28%. Active cases were at 3,90,906 and a record 63 deaths were added.
Karnataka on Thursday reported 49,058 new cases, 23,706 of them from Bengaluru Urban. The State recorded 328 fresh deaths. The TPR stood at 29.83%.
In Telangana, new cases dipped to 6,026 on Wednesday from 6,361 cases on Tuesday, while tests rose to 79,824 from 77,435. Official COVID-19 deaths rose to 52 from 51, and there were 77,127 active cases. Greater Hyderabad led in the number of new cases at 1,115, followed by Medchal-Malakajgiri 418, Ranga Reddy 403 and Sangareddy 231.
Andhra Pradesh reported 72 deaths and 21,954 new infections on Thursday. Active cases rose to 1,82,329. The TPR of 1.1 lakh samples was 20%.
Visakhapatnam reported 11 deaths, East Godavari and Vizianagaram nine each, Anantapur eight and Prakasam six deaths.
Tamil Nadu on Thursday logged a high number of fatalities, with 195 more people succumbing to COVID-19. This took the toll to 14,974. The State added 24,898 more cases, taking the tally to 12,97,500. Chennai accounted for the most number of deaths at 69, taking its toll past the 5,000-mark. A total of 5,021 persons have died due to COVID-19 in the city.
(With inputs from Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Bengaluru and Chennai bureaus)
