Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala recorded 12,742 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday after testing 72,808 samples, taking its Test Positivity Rate (TPR) to 17.5 per cent.
COVID fatalities reached 50,254, after 176 previously undocumented deaths and 23 recent ones were added to the list, Health Minister Veena George said in a press release.
After 2,552 more recover from the infection, the number active patients in the state reached 54,430. Among them, only 5 per cent are admitted to hospitals currently. The active cases which were below the 50,000-mark from November 26, 2021 onwards, breached that level on Wednesday as a third wave of infections started spreading rapidly in the state.
Kerala on Wednesday reported 76 fresh Omicron cases taking the total number of people infected with the new variant of COVID-19 to 421. An 'Omicron cluster' was formed at a private nursing college in Pathanamthitta where the disease was suspected to have been spread from a student who was in contact with a person arrived from abroad.
The state has reported 53,13,147 cases so far. Of them, 52,07,762 recovered.
Of the positive cases, 125 were health workers, while 597 had come from outside the state and 11,327 infected through contact. The source of infection of 693 among them is unknown.
District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:
Thiruvananthapuram 3498
Ernakulam 2214
Kozhikode 1164
Thrissur 989
Kottayam 941
Pathanamthitta 601
Kollam 559
Kannur 540
Palakkad 495
Alappuzha 463
Malappuram 449
Idukki 367
Kasaragod 262
Wayanad 200
Vaccination and quarantine
Till Friday, 99 per cent (2,65,20,958) of the eligible adult population in Kerala has been given one dose of COVID-19 vaccine while 82 per cent (2,17,68,338) received both the doses.
As of now, a total of 1,41,293 people are under observation across the state. Of them, 1,38,264 are under home or institutional quarantine while 3,029 are in hospitals across the state. A total of 420 people were admitted in hospitals on Wednesday.
There are 6 wards in 5 local bodies across Kerala where the Weekly Infection Population Ratio (WIPR) is above 10 per cent. Strict Covid restrictions are being implemented in these regions.
