The State’s COVID-19 case graph showed a slight spike on Friday as 5,456 new cases were reported when 54,472 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative case load to 6,93,865 cases.
The spike in cases, which all public health experts had been predicting, was reflected in the test positivity rate, which hovered just over 10 at 10.02%.
The number of recoveries reported being 4,701, the active case pool went up slightly than the previous day to 58,884 cases. The total number of recoveries reported till date has risen to 6,32,065.
Another 23 deaths were added on to the official COVID death list, taking the cumulative toll to 2,757 deaths. Thiruvananthapuram, Malappuram and Kozhikode accounted for five deaths each, Wayanad and Ernakulam reported two deaths each while one death each was reported from Alappuzha, Thrissur, Kannur and Kasaragod.
According to official reports, the number of COVID patients who are critically ill and now undergoing treatment in ICUs in various hospitals is 818, with 230 of them requiring ventilator support.
Of the 5,456 new cases reported, 5,365 are locally acquired infections, with 606 cases remaining untraced to any known source of infection. The number of health-care workers who contracted the disease on Friday is 37. In 91 cases, the authorities have reported a history of travel outside the State.
Among districts, Kozhikode reported 674 cases, Thrissur 630, Ernakulam 578, Kottayam 538, Malappuram 485, Kollam 441, Patyhanamthitta 404, Palakkad 365, Alappuzha 324, Thiruvananthapuram 309, Kannur 298, Wayanad 219, Idukki 113 and Kasaragod 78 cases.
