Kerala's daily COVID-19 case count stayed above 1,900 for the third day in a row on Friday with 1,983 testing positive. The state recorded 1,419 recoveries and 12 deaths due to the coronavirus infection on the day.
Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 1,777 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 109 are yet to be traced, the health ministry said in its evening update.
Apart from this, 35 healthcare workers (14 from Thiruvananthapuram, six from Malappuram, five from Thrissur, four from Ernakulam, two each from Kozhikode and Wayanad, and one each in Alappuzha and Palakkad) also contracted the virus.
Of the 1,983 cases reported today, 64 people came from abroad, while 99 came from other states. Seven INHS employees from Ernakulam abd one DSC employee from Kannur also tested positive.
The state has reported 54,182 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 35,247 recovered. The remaining 18,673 patients are being treated in various hospitals.
With 12 more COVID-19 deaths being reported, the death toll reached 203 in Kerala on Friday.
The deceased have been identified as Sadanandan, 62, from Alappuzha; Krishnan, 78, from Kannanpuram in Kannur; Muhammed Kutty, 78 from Vennala in Ernakulam; Ahmed Hamsa, 69, from Nallalam in Kozhikode; Ayeshamma, 54, from Randathani in Malappuram; Ithinkutti, 71, from Cheriyamunda in Malappuram; Muhammed Iqbal, 58, from Naduvathu in Malappuram; Mullakoya Thangal, 67, from Thikodi in Kozhikode; Devaki Amma, 94, from Chelambra in Malappuram; Muhammed Koya, 55, from Thikodi in Kozhikode; PT Sulu, 49, from Mavoor in Kozhikode; Shine Sabu, 47, from West Hill in Kozhikode.
Kerala's single-day COVID-19 case count crossed the 2,000-mark for the first time on Wednesday with 2,333 infections. On Thursday, it was 1,968 positive cases.
From when the first case was confirmed in the state on January 30, 2020, it took 168 days, or five-and-a-half months to reach the 10k-mark on July 16. However, it took only 12 more days to cross the 20,000 tally. The numbers soared past the 50k-mark in the next 22 days.
Here's the district-wise break-up of today's cases:
Thiruvananthapuram 429 (contact-411)
Malappuram 335 (318)
Ernakulam 165 (144)
Kozhikode 158 (146)
Alappuzha 155 (124)
Kottayam 136 (127)
Thrissur 119 (104)
Kasaragod 105 (95)
Palakkad 83 (60)
Kollam 82 (77)
Pathanamthitta 78 (68)
Kannur 78 (72)
Idukki 34 (16)
Wayanad 26 (15)
District-wise break-up of today's recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram 258
Kollam 54
Pathanamthitta 37
Alappuzha 67
Kottayam 93
Idukki 18
Ernakulam 89
Thrissur 55
Palakkad 144
Malappuram 319
Kozhikode 163
Wayanad 44
Kannur 44
Kasaragod 34
Malappuram continues to witness a surge in COVID cases with 335 more people testing positive on Friday. Of them, 323 are cases of local transmission with 301 being people who had been in the contact list of those tested positive earlier.
Source of infection is yet to be traced in 22 cases including six healthcare workers. Friday's tally includes a 94-year-old woman who died recently at Chelembra.
Of the 165 cases reported in Ernakulam, 155 contracted the disease through contact. Eighteen residents of Don Bosco Boys' Home at Palluruthy have tested positive. Seven Navy officers and four health workers are also among Friday's cases.
Of the 158 cases in Kozhikode, 147 are contact cases. Of them, source has not been traced in 11 cases. Most of the contact cases have been reported from Cherode – 59. Twenty-eight cases have been reported in Kozhikode corporation.
In Alappuzha, 155 cases were confirmed. Of them, 123 are contact cases. Source has not been identified in the case of a Kainakari native.
Kottayam reported 136 cases with 128 of them being contact cases. Most of the contact cases were reported from Vijayapuram panchayat (19). Sixteen cases were reported in Kottayam municipality.
Of the 119 cases in Thrissur, 111 are contact cases. Of them, source is not clear in 33 cases. Seven health workers and a policeman are among those tested positive.
Kasaragod also reported over 100 cases on Friday. Of the 105 cases, 28 have been reported from Chemmanad panchayat. Seventeen cases were reported in Uduma and 12 in Kanhangad.
Testing and quarantine
In the last 24 hours, 35,825 samples have been tested.
In total, 13,49,071 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. A total of of 1,58,528 samples have been collected as part of sentinel surveillance.
Of the 1,76,930 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,61,790 are home/institutional quarantined and 15,140 hospitalised. As many as 2128 people were hospitalised since Thursday.
On Friday, 32 more regions have been converted into hotspots while 8 regions were excluded from the list.
There are currently 607 hotspots in the state.
