Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala emerged as the second-worst COVID-19-hit state in the country after overtaking Karnataka in terms of virus caseload. The only state worse affected than Kerala is Maharashtra.
The state reported 6,102 new coronavirus positive cases on Thursday, and the total caseload has mounted to 9,50,811. The active cases in the state touched 68,857, which is the highest in the country.
Kerala and Maharashtra account for 70 per cent of the total active cases in the country.
As many as 6,341 people have been cured of the infection on Thursday, taking the total recoveries so far to 8,77,889, the Health department informed in a press statement.
In the last 24 hours ending 2 pm, 84,007 samples were tested and the test positivity rate was 7.26 per cent.
With 17 deaths being reported on Thursday, the state's death toll has risen to 3,813.
Of the positive cases, 45 are health workers, 99 had come from outside the state and 5,509 had been infected through contact. The source of infection of 449 among them is unknown.
49 Kerala students test positive in Mangaluru
Forty-nine students from Kerala studying in a nursing college near the coastal city of Mangaluru tested positive for COVID-19.
The Aaliyah Institute of Nursing in Dakshina Kannada district was sealed by authorities on Wednesday.
Out of the 104 samples of staff and students tested, 49 BSc nursing students, who had come for examinations after months-long break, tested positive, Dr H Ashok, nodal officer of Dakshina Kannada district, which borders Kerala, said.
The college premises has been made a containment zone till February 19.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam – 833 (contact cases – 773)
Kozhikode – 676 (648)
Kollam – 651 (635)
Pathanamthitta – 569 (517)
Alappuzha – 559 (547)
Malappuram – 489 (472)
Thrissur – 481 (467)
Kottayam – 450 (396)
Thiruvananthapuram – 409 (287)
Kannur – 289 (222)
Idukki – 269 (250)
Palakkad – 217 (113)
Wayanad – 114 (101)
Kasaragod – 96 (81)
District-wise breakup of recoveries:
Ernakulam – 911
Kozhikode – 838
Kottayam – 829
Malappuram – 724
Pathanamthitta – 574
Thrissur – 439
Thiruvananthapuram – 370
Kollam – 347
Palakkad – 289
Kannur – 240
Wayanad – 206
Kasaragod – 146
Idukki – 116
Alappuzha – 31
A total of 2,14,980 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 2,04,124 are under home or institutional quarantine and 10,856 are in hospitals.
So far, 98,56,074 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.
On Thursday, 18 new regions have been converted into hotspots and two have been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 393 in the state.
