Kerala’s ride over the second wave of COVID-19 is proving to be quite agonising with the epidemic curve rising at an alarming pace, putting more and more people in hospital beds and ICUs on a daily basis.
On Tuesday, when the results of 1,12,221 samples, which are part of the first round of augmented testing came in, the State set another record in a single day’s spike, recording 19,577 new cases. The cumulative case burden of the State has now risen to 12,72,645.
The active case load is rising alarmingly and now has 1,18,673 cases.
There were also 3,880 recoveries taking the tally to 11,48,671. The test positivity rate seems more or less steady since the past three days at 17.45%.
Though the active case pool has over a lakh patients, at present, total hospital admissions number 13,221. On Tuesday, 2,470 persons were admitted to hospitals.
The proportion of critically ill patients requiring ICU care in the State has risen to 937, with the number of those requiring ventilator assistance rising to 277. This is a hike not seen during the first wave and by all indications, this is likely to climb further, putting immense pressure on the health system.
In almost all districts, ICU beds earmarked for COVID-19 patients are getting filled up fast and there is almost 60% to 70% occupancy in most hospitals.
The State added 28 new deaths to the official list on Tuesday. The cumulative toll has risen to 4,978.
Thrissur reported six deaths, Ernakulam four, Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, and Kannur three each, Kozhikode, Malappuram, and Kollam two each, while one death each was reported from Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha.
Among the districts, Ernakulam’s case graph shot through the roof on Tuesday, recording 3,212 cases, Kozhikode 2,341, Malappuram 1,945, Thrissur 1,868, Kottayam 1,510, Thiruvananthapuram 1,490, Kannur 1,360, Alappuzha 1,347, Palakkad 1,109, Kasaragod 861, Kollam 848, Idukki 637, Wayanad 590, and Pathanamthitta 459 cases.
