The cumulative case burden in Kerala crossed the six-lakh mark to touch 6,02,982 cases when 3,382 new cases were reported on Monday, when 34,689 samples were tested in the past 24 hours.
The dip in testing on Sunday resulted in the slump in the new cases. However, test positivity rate remained in the same 9-11% range, at 9.75%. The State reported good number of recoveries on the day with 6,055 patients leaving hospitals.
The active case pool in the State dropped to 61,894 cases. Till date, 5,38,713 persons have recovered from COVID-19 in the State.
It was in October that the State reported the maximum number of new cases, at 2,35,889 cases. The number of COVID deaths in October alone was 741. The November figures show that the caseload has indeed gone down by some 73,037 cases, when compared to October’s figures, and stand at 1,62,852 cases.
While the cases have down between October and November, the number of deaths, if one goes by the official figures, does not show a significant decrease. The State had 732 COVID deaths in November against the figure of 741 in October.
The epidemic curve in the State is on a plateau, with low level of disease transmission remaining steady across the State and the number of new cases have come down. However, in many districts like Idukki, Wayanad, Kottayam and Malappuram, cases are again on the rise.
Also, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said here that while the new cases seem to be coming down, the recovery rate has not shown a matching increase. With local body election campaigning on in full swing and increased interaction between people, the disease curve is almost certain to rise again.
On Monday, 21 more deaths were added to the official list of COVID deaths, taking the State’s cumulative COVID toll to 2,244.
Six of these deaths were reported from Thrissur, four from Thiruvananthapuram, three from Kottayam and two each from Alappuzha, Ernakulam, Malappuram, and Kozhikode.
Official figures put the number of COVID patients who are critically ill and in ICUs in various hospitals in the State at 825 with 201 of them requiring ventilator support.
Health workers
Of the 3,382 new cases reported on Monday, 3,318 are locally acquired infections while 64 cases have been linked to a travel history outside the State. The source of infection remained untraced in 405 cases. The number of healthcare workers who contracted the infection among this is 33.
Among districts, Malappuram reported 611 cases, Kozhikode 481, Ernakulam 317, Alappuzha 275, Thrissur 250, Kottayam 243, Palakkad 242, Kollam 238, Thiruvananthapuram 234, Kannur 175, Pathanamthitta 91, Wayanad 90, Kasaragod 86 and Idukki 49 cases.
