E-Paper
Kerala records 22,040 new Covid-19 cases; test positivity rate at 13.49%
More than 20,000 patients recovered and 117 succumbed to the viral disease, taking the cumulative count of recoveries and deaths to 3,297,834 and 17,328 respectively. The active cases in the state have increased to 177,924, the health department’s bulletin also showed.
Kerala’s caseload of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) climbed to nearly 3.5 million on Thursday after 22,040 fresh cases were registered in the last 24 hours, according to the state health department’s bulletin. More than 20,000 patients recovered and 117 succumbed to the viral disease, taking the cumulative count of recoveries and deaths to 3,297,834 and 17,328 respectively. The active cases in the state have increased to 177,924, the health department’s bulletin also showed.
Of Thursday’s case count, 76 are health workers, 67 came from outside Kerala and the remaining 20,901 got infected with Covid-19 through contact, with the source of contact unclear in 996 cases, a government press release said.
Daily infections in Kerala went below the 20,000-mark on Monday when 13,984 were detected Covid-19 positive. However, from Tuesday, the daily tally again breached the above limit when 23,676 cases were recorded. And on Wednesday, the state recorded 22,414 cases, 108 deaths and 19,478 recoveries.
Authorities have so far tested 28 million samples for Covid-19 of which 163,376 were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate stood at 13.49%. A total of 481,157 patients are under surveillance in several districts of which 29,358 are in hospitals and 451,799 are in home or institutional quarantine.
Kerala, which is currently the worst-hit state from the pandemic across India, accounts for nearly half of total cases recorded in the country. The central government’s team, which recently visited the state to assess the Covid-19 situation, submitted its report and suggested that testing, contract tracing and containment measures need to be enhanced to deal with the spike in infections.
On Wednesday, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya spoke to chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan regarding the ongoing health crisis. Madaviya also wrote a letter to Vijayan where he said the state government should opt for more proactive measures and precautions to curb the spread of the viral disease.
Despite the pandemic situation remaining serious, the state government eased its ongoing Covid-19 restrictions from Thursday morning. Shops, markets, offices and other establishments are now allowed to open six days a week. Shops can now function from 7 am to 9 pm but it is compulsory for staff and visitors to be inoculated with at least the first dose of the vaccine or prove that they tested negative after undergoing an RT-PCR test.
However, restaurants and hotels are only allowed to deliver food and schools, colleges and other educational institutions and movie theatres will remain closed.
