Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded 12,288 COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the total cases reported from the state to 47,63,695.

As many as 15,808 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 46,18,408.

The active cases touched 1,18,744, Health Minister Veena George said in a press release.

In the last 24 hours, 99,312 samples were tested and the test positivity rate was 12.37 per cent.

With 141 deaths being reported on Thursday, the state's death toll has risen to 25,952.

Of the positive cases, 69 were health workers, while 51 had come from outside the state and 11,674 infected through contact. The source of infection of 494 among them is unknown.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Ernakulam - 1,839
Thrissur - 1,698
Thiruvananthapuram - 1,435
Kozhikode - 1,033
Kollam - 854
Malappuram - 762
Alappuzha - 746
Kottayam - 735
Palakkad - 723
Kannur - 679
Pathanamthitta - 643
Idukki - 622
Wayanad - 337
Kasaragod - 182

Testing and quarantine
A total of 3,77,128 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 3,62,444 are under home or institutional quarantine and 14,684 are in hospitals.

1016 people were admitted in hospitals on Thursday.
There are are 332 wards in 227 local bodies across Kerala where the Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) is above 10%. Strict Covid restrictions are being implemented in these regions.

Schools ready to open
At a time when the schools are all set to be reopened next month after remaining shut for more than a year, the Kerala General Education Department is busy preparing a centralised module to ease the stress and anxiety of children as well as parents in this regard.

Steps are being taken to clean and disinfect all places where children used to throng and bio-bubble system would be implemented strictly to ensure their safety.

Arrangements would be made in such a way that only two children are sitting on a bench. Along with soap and sanitiser, thermal scanner to examine the body temperature of children, teachers and non-teaching staff would also be arranged in each school.

Vaccination
The state government also said that 93.16 per cent of the total population eligible for vaccination have been given one dose of vaccine by October 7 and 43.14 per cent of the eligible populace have been given both doses by the same date. More than 97 per cent of the people over the age of 45 years have received one dose and 61 per cent of the same age group have received both jabs till date, the release said. It further said that only 10.7 per cent of the cases currently under treatment are admitted in hospitals or field hospitals and less than 1 per cent of those under treatment are in the ICU.