Kerala has reported another spike in Covid-19 virus cases on Friday with 9,250 fresh cases. The test positivity rate (TPR) has also gone up to 13.54, state health minister KK Shailaja said. On Thursday there was some relief as the state reported 5,445 fresh cases of infection but it was short-lived, statistics show.
The state has been witnessing an increase in Covid-19 cases since the second week of September and is placed on the third spot with respect to active cases (91,756) after Maharashtra and Karnataka.
With 24 new fatalities, the Covid-19 death toll went up to 931 in the state. The only solace for the state is its fatality rate which is the lowest in the country, less than 0.4 percent.
Worried over the high test positivity rate (13.54 against the national average of 8.2) the state health ministry has asked district administrations to strengthen curbs and bring the TPR to the national average.
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Medical experts said going by the present trend, cases of infection may peak by the end of this month. Though Kerala has got a robust health system, its density of population and a large number of elderly population gives it more worries.
{{/usCountry}}Medical experts said going by the present trend, cases of infection may peak by the end of this month. Though Kerala has got a robust health system, its density of population and a large number of elderly population gives it more worries.
{{/usCountry}}With 9,250 new cases, the total number of Covid-19 cases in the state now stands at 268,080 which includes 1,75,304 recovered patients and 91,756 active cases. With 68,321 new tests, the total has gone up to 34,71,365 tests. At least 8,048 people recovered from the deadly contagion on Friday. Many experts said the state will have to double its test rate with more emphasis on RT-PCR tests - around 60 percent of total tests conducted in the state are antigen.