State posts dip in new cases, tests

Kerala’s COVID-19 case graph has slowed down with sample testing slumping following the long weekend and holiday mood.

The State recorded 4,287 cases on Monday when testing dropped to just 35,141 samples in 24 hours.

However, test positivity rate (TPR) has been hovering around 12-14 % during the past one week. On Monday, the TPR was 12.19%.

The State again recorded more recoveries than new cases on the day, with 7,107 patients testing negative and leaving hospitals.

The cumulative COVID-19 case burden of the State is inching towards four lakh and now stands at 3,97,217 cases. The total recoveries till date is 3,02,017 cases and the number of active cases in the hospitals is 93,744. Of these patients, 811 are critically ill and being cared for in ICUs.

20 more deaths

On Monday, the Health Department added 20 more deaths in the past few weeks to the official list of COVID-19 deaths in the State, which has now registered 1,352 deaths. Thrissur and Wayanad reported four deaths each, Kannur three, Kasaragod and Alappuzha two each, while Kottayam, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram and Kozhikode reported one death each.

On Monday, all new cases reported, except 52, are locally acquired infections, with no known source of infection in 471 cases. The number of health-care workers who contracted the infection is 53.

Among districts, Malappuram reported 853 cases, Thiruvananthapuram 513, Kozhikode 497, Thrissur 480, Ernakulam 457, Alappuzha 332, Kollam 316, Palakkad 276, Kottayam 194, Kannur 174, Idukki 79, Kasaragod 64, Wayanad 28 and Pathanamthitta 24 cases.