Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala on Saturday recorded the highest single-day spike in COVID-19 cases with 7,006 cases, the health department informed in a press statement.
Kerala has over 50,000 active COVID-19 patients, which is the fifth highest in the country. Only Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh have more active cases.
3,199 patients recovered from the deadly disease while 21 deaths were confirmed on Saturday taking the state's death toll to 656.
Of the new cases recorded, 6,004 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 664 among them is unknown.
As many as 68 infected persons came from abroad while 177 came from other states.
The state has reported 1,67,939 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 1,14,530 persons recovered. The remaining 52,678 patients are being treated in various hospitals.
Ninety-three health workers also tested positive in the state on Saturday – 22 from Thiruvananthapuram, 15 from Kannur, 12 from Ernakulam, 11 from Kasaragod, eight from Kollam, five each from Pathanamthitta, Malappuram and Kozhikode, four from Thrissur, three from Alappuzha, two from Palakkad, one in Wayanad.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Thiruvananthapuram - 1,050 (contact cases – 1,024)
Malappuram - 826 (797)
Ernakulam - 729 (702)
Kozhikode - 684 (669)
Thrissur - 594 (587)
Kollam - 589 (571)
Palakkad - 547 (531)
Kannur - 435 (381)
Alappuzha - 414 (404)
Kottayam - 389 (382)
Pathanamthitta - 329 (258)
Kasaragod - 224 (196)
Idukki - 107 (81)
Wayanad - 89 (85)
District-wise breakup of recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram – 373
Kollam – 188
Pathanamthitta – 149
Alappuzha – 335
Kottayam – 163
Idukki – 64
Ernakulam – 246
Thrissur – 240
Palakkad – 223
Malappuram – 486
Kozhikode – 414
Wayanad – 94
Kannur – 147
Kasaragod – 77
Testing and quarantine
A total of 2,22,330 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 1,94,447 are under home or institutional quarantine and 27,883 are in hospitals.
3446 people were admitted in hospitals on Saturday alone.
In the last 24 hours, 58,779 samples were tested.
So far, 27,17,040 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.
In addition, as part of Sentinel Surveillance, 2,00,971 samples were collected from priority groups, such as health workers, guest workers, social contacts.
On Saturday, 19 more regions have been converted into hotspots and 19 have been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 652 in the state.
COVID deaths
Twenty-one deaths were confirmed in Kerala on Saturday.
The deceased are K Mohanan (60) from Aruvikkara in Thiruvananthapuram, Anindran (45) from Ottasekharamangalam in Thiruvananthapuram, V George (73) from Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta, Saraswathi (83) from Ambalapuzha in Alappuzha, Regia Beevi (54) from Kayamkulam in Alappuzha, KG Rabindranath (42) from Alappuzha, K Giriraj (54) from Alappuzha, Abhilash (43) from Kadungallur in Ernakulam, Pappachan (71) from Panayikkulam in Ernakulam, Dennis (52) from Vypin in Ernakulam, Manoj (45) from Koratti in Thrissur, Riji (35) from Madathumpady in Thrissur, Muhammadkutty (64) from Athavanad in Malappuram, Pathumuthu (75) from Kannamangalam in Malappuram, Abdul Rahman (51) from Velimukku in Malappuram, Mustafa (55) from Mathur in Kasaragod, Leela (71), Bharathan (57) from Kasaragod, Ahmed Kunji (69) from Manjeswaram in Kasaragod, Raju (65) from Pilicode in Kasaragod, and Ummer (70) from Meencha in Kasaragod.
With this, COVID death toll in the state rises to 656. More deaths were reported but the State is yet to ascertain them as COVID deaths. Tests are underway at National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha.
