Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded 13,835 COVID-19 cases on Saturday, pushing the caseload to 12,21,167.
As many as 3,654 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 11,35,921.
The active cases touched 80,019, Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a press release.
In the last 24 hours, 81,211 samples were tested and the test positivity rate was 17.4 per cent.
With 27 deaths being reported on Saturday, the state's death toll has risen to 4,904.
Of the positive cases, 58 were health workers, while 259 had come from outside the state and 12,499 infected through contact. The source of infection of 1,019 among them is unknown.
No UK returnee has tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours.
As cases in Kerala are steadily rising, the Tamil Nadu government has blocked the pocket lanes and byroads on its border with Thiruvananthapuram. Travellers are allowed to pass the border only after producing a coronavirus negative certificate.
The minister warned that the pandemic could get out of hand any time we lowered our guard. She called upon the people to follow the COVID-19 protocol to contain the pandemic.
Kerala has stepped up tests in the backdrop of a surge in infection across the country.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam- 2187 (2112- contact cases)
Kozhikode- 1504 (1474)
Malappuram- 1430 (1382)
Kottayam- 1154 (1078)
Thrissur- 1149 (1123)
Kannur- 1132 (973)
Thiruvananthapuram- 909 (668)
Alappuzha- 908 (893)
Palakkad- 864 (328)
Pathanamthitta- 664 (608)
Idukki- 645 (617)
Wayanad- 484 (471)
Kollam- 472 (462)
Kasaragod- 333 (310)
District-wise breakup of recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram-520
Kollam- 317
Pathanamthitta- 47
Alappuzha- 294
Kottayam- 264
Idukki- 117
Ernakulam- 327
Thrissur- 348
Palakkad- 90
Malappuram- 249
Kozhikode- 402
Wayanad- 100
Kannur- 413
Kasaragod- 166
Testing and quarantine
As part of the governments initiative to increase testing, as many as 1,35,159 samples were collected on Friday. The same level of sample collection was expected on Saturday also. The results from Friday’s mass tests are also included in the COVID-19 daily tally to announced on Saturday.
A total of 2,18,542 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 2,08,003 are under home or institutional quarantine and 10,539 are in hospitals.
1,677 people were admitted in hospitals on Saturday.
So far, 1,41,62,843 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.
On Saturday, 18 more regions have been converted into hotspots and one have been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 452 in the state.
