Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 1,094,294 on Tuesday, with the state reporting 1,970 fresh cases. The state also registered 2,884 recoveries since Monday.
In the last 24 hours, 60,974 samples have been tested. In total, 1,23,90,578 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. The test positivity rate is 3.23 per cent.
So far, 10,63,444 people recovered from the disease, while 26,127 patients are still under treatment in various hospitals across the state, Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a statement.
As many as 1.742 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 145 are unknown, the minister said.
Apart from this, 13 healthcare workers (Kannur – 4, Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, Ernakulam – 2 each, Pathanamthitta, Wayanad and Kasaragod – 1 each) also contracted the virus.
The minister also confirmed 15 more deaths on Tuesday. The official death toll now stands at 4,422.
One person who returned from South Africa has tested positive in the last 24 hours. So far, 104 people - 99 from United Kingdom, 4 from South Africa and 1 from Brazil - tested positive for the virus. Of them 91 people were recovered.
District-wise break-up of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam - 238 (contact cases - 229)
Kozhikode - 237 (231)
Kottayam - 217 (199)
Kannur - 176 (137)
Thrissur - 166 (164)
Thiruvananthapuram - 165 (102)
Kollam - 163 (162)
Pathanamthitta - 126 (107)
Alappuzha - 103 (101)
Malappuram - 102 (96)
Idukki - 81 (76)
Kasaragod - 78 (67)
Palakkad - 69 (25)
Wayanad - 49 (46)
District-wise break-up of recoveries:
Ernakulam - 752
Kozhikode - 365
Kannur - 319
Malappuram - 277
Thrissur - 216
Thiruvananthapuram - 183
Alappuzha - 159
Kottayam - 155
Pathanamthitta - 141
Idukki - 97
Kasaragod - 90
Palakkad - 62
Wayanad - 35
Kollam - 33
Of the 1,43,461 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,39,309 are home/institutional quarantined and 4,152 hospitalised. As many as 449 people were hospitalised since Monday.
Three new places were designated as hotspots on Tuesday. The state presently has 355 hotspots.
Key points from CM's press meet:
• COVID-19 spread is at its lowest in six months and the test positivity rate has also gone down below 2 per cent.
• Even though the number of COVID-19 patients have reduced the number of tests have not been reduced.
• It has been one year since 'Break the Chain' campaign began.
• People should continue to follow social distancing protocols to curb the spread of coronavirus during this election time.
• Increase in temperature during the day is a cause of concern. It is advised to carry drinking water at all times and to avoid getting out of homes from 11am to 3pm.
