Kerala’s case graph for coronavirus ( COVID-19 ) rose by another 8,764 cases on Tuesday, with testing covering 48,253 samples. The test positivity rate shot up to 18.16%.
Kerala’s cumulative case burden first crossed the one lakh mark on September 11, cases building up with the third wave of the epidemic from mid-May.
However, the next one lakh cases were added to cumulative cases in 21 days and on October 1, the two lakh mark was crossed, while the next one lakh cases were added in just 12 days.
The COVID-19 toll touched 1,046, with 21 more deaths added to the official list. Kozhikode counted eight deaths, while four each took place in Alapuzha and Ernakulam, three in Malappuram and one each in Kannur and Kasaragod.
Of the new cases, 8,643 (98.6%) were locally acquired infections, including among 76 healthcare workers.
Thiruvananthapuram district, reporting the highest number of cases for over three months, fell to sixth place.
On Tuesday, Malappuram topped the districts with 1,139 cases, Ernakulam added 1,122, Kozhikode 1,113, Thrissur 1,010, Kollam 907, Thiruvananthapuram 777, Palakkad 606, Alapuzha 488, Kottayam 476, Kannur 370, Kasaragod 323, Pathanamthitta 244, Wayanad 110 and Idukki 79 cases.
There were 4,622 new infections and 35 new deaths in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
Also, 72,082 samples were tested with a positivity rate of 6.41% while the overall positivity rate was 11.39%.
The tests per million ratio was 1,25,520 and cases per million ratio 14,299. There was a small increase in new cases in Godavari and Chittoor districts consistent with their larger share of new infections in recent days. West Godavari reported the highest new infections at 752 while Chittoor reported 705. East Godavari reported 691 infections. Other districts had less than 500 new cases.
Telangana recorded 1,708 cases on Monday. While 46,835 people underwent tests on October 12, the results of 1,034 were awaited. Five more COVID-19 patients died.
The High Court for the State on Monday stated that the statistics on deaths due to COVID-19 furnished by the Public Health department were not trustworthy.
There were 277 new cases from Greater Hyderabad, 137 from Rangareddy, 124 from Medchal-Malkajgiri, 97 from Bhadradri-Kothagudem, 86 from Karimnagar, and 81 each from Khammam and Nalgonda.
Karnataka on Tuesday reported 8,191 new cases and 87 more deaths.
On the State’s claim of a rising recovery rate, Giridhara R Babu, member, State COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee, said it was a positive sign: “As recoveries increase, we will soon reach a stage where the growth rate of recoveries too will plateau till active cases come down.”
(With inputs from Thiruvananthapuram, Vijayawada, Hyderabad and Bengaluru bureaus)
