Kerala recorded 6,394 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday after testing 63,891 samples, showing another spike in the rate of infections.
With this, the test positivity rate rose to 10.01 in the state.
Two people, who have returned from the United Kingdom, are among the new infections. Their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology for further examinations. So far, 43 UK returnees have tested positive for the virus in Kerala recently. Among them, six people were found to have contracted the mutated super-infective strain of SARS-CoV-2.
Of Wednesday's cases, 5,723 had contracted the virus through contact while 69 had come from outside the state. Among the contact cases, the source of infection of 551 is yet to be traced.
With this, the number of active cases in the state reached 65,057.
The state has reported 790,882 COVID-19 infections so far. Of this, 7,22,421 made recovery, icluding 5,110 on Wednesday.
25 more COVID deaths
Twenty-five COVID deaths too were confirmed. With this, COVID death toll rose to 3,209.
Though more deaths were reported, the state is yet to ascertain them as COVID deaths. Tests are underway at the National Institute of Virology in Alappuzha.
Here's the break-up of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam - 1,068 (contact cases - 990)
Kozhikode - 729 (682)
Pathanamthitta - 666 (595)
Kottayam - 555 (516)
Kollam - 548 (544)
Thrissur - 502 (495)
Alappuzha - 446 (434)
Malappuram - 432 (407)
Thiruvananthapuram - 416 (263)
Idukki - 271 (264)
Palakkad - 255 (105)
Kannur - 219 (156)
Wayanad - 210 (202)
Kasaragod - 77 (70)
Recoveries:
Thiruvananthapuram - 355,
Kollam - 285
Pathanamthitta - 173
Alappuzha - 379
Kottayam - 736
Idukki - 125
Ernakulam - 946
Thrissur - 542
Palakkad - 153
Malappuram - 421
Kozhikode - 585
Wayanad - 110
Kannur - 260
Kasaragod - 40
Fifty-one health workers too contracted the virus on the day. They include 11 in Ernakulam, 8 in Kozhikode, 6 each from Thiruvananthapuram, Pathanamthitta, and Kannur, 3 each from Thrissur, Palakkad, and Kasaragod, 2 each from Kollam and Idukki, and 1 from Wayanad.
Testing and Quarantine
Till Wednesday, 82,24,781 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing.
A total of 1,92,085 people are under observation across the state. Of them, 1,80,947 are under home or institutional quarantine while 11,138 are in hospital. A total of 1,352 people were admitted in hospitals on Wednessday.
Two regions have been designated as hotspots while one was removed from the list. The total number of hotspots is at 446 in the state now.
