On Friday, the eve of the lockdown, Kerala reported 38,460 new cases of COVID-19 when 1,44,345 samples were tested in 24 hours. The average test positivity rate in the State showed a slight dip at 26.64%.
The active case pool of the State has crossed four lakh now and has 4,02,650 patients. The last one lakh active cases were added in seven days.
ICU admissions are rising steeply in the State. The number of critically ill persons being treated in ICUs across the State spiralled to 2,323 with the addition of 274 critically ill patients. The number of patients on ventilator support also shot up from 807 on Thursday to 1,138 on Friday.
A total of 54 recent deaths were added to the official COVID toll on Friday, taking the cumulative toll of COVID fatalities in the State to 5,682.
This included 23 deaths reported from Thiruvananthapuram, 15 from Kozhikode, six from Thrissur, five from Palakkad, three from Ernakulam and one death each from Malappuram and Wayanad.
The number of COVID patients currently hospitalised in the State has risen to 29,981. At present, a total of 10,20,652 persons have been put on home or institutional isolation in the State.
On Friday, 26,662 patients were declared to have recovered from COVID and let off from hospitals/institutions. The total recoveries till date is 14,16,177.
The cumulative case burden of the State stands at 18,24,856 cases.
Ernakulam continues to have the highest number of active cases with 64,453 patients, followed by Kozhikode (53,618), Malappuram (44,006), Thrissur (46,177) and Thiruvananthapuram (34,318). Thiruvananthapuram has the highest number of hospitalised patients at 4,468.
Among districts, Ernakulam reported the highest number of new cases with 5,361, Kozhikode 4,200, Thiruvananthapuram 3,950, Malappuram 3,949, Thrissur 3,738, Kannur 3,139, Palakkad 2,968, Kollam 2,422, Alappuzha 2,160, Kottayam 2,153, Pathanamthitta 1,191, Wayanad 1,173, Idukki 1,117, and Kasaragod 939 cases.
