The State reported 7,007 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, when 64,192 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative case burden of the State over the five lakh mark.
Of the 5,02,719 COVID-19 patients till date, 4,22,410 have recovered from their infection. The test positivity rate remained steady at 10.9%
The State also registered more recoveries than cases, with 7,252 persons getting discharged from hospitals.
Active cases dip
The active case pool of the State came further down on Wednesday to 78,420. At no point in disease transmission did the active case burden cross the one lakh mark.
The State COVID-19 toll rose to 1,771 with the addition of 29 more deaths to the official list of COVID deaths in the State. Thiruvananthapuram accounted for eight of these deaths, Kottayam six, Kollam three, Thrissur, Malappuram, Kannur and Kasaragod two each while Kozhikode, Palakkad, Ernakulam, and Alappuzha one each.
The Health Department reported that at present, 927 persons were critically ill and were being treated in ICUs with 230 requiring ventilator support.
Of the new cases reported on Wednesday, 6,921 cases or all cases except 86 cases are locally acquired infections, with the source of infection remaining unknown in 717 cases. The number of health-care workers who contracted the infection is 52.
‘Maintain vigil’
Health Minister K.K. Shylaja in a statement here said that the public should continue the vigil against COVID-19 and strictly follow all precautions to prevent any flare-up in disease transmission, especially with the upcoming local body elections and the Sabarimala pilgrimage.
She said that despite warnings that the daily case burden could easily go up to 30,000, the State could keep a check on disease transmission because of the vigil maintained by the public and the strong containment strategies of the Health Department
However, at this stage of the disease transmission too, anyone could be a potential disease carrier and hence physical distancing and universal masking should be followed strictly, she added.
Among districts, Ernakulam reported 977 cases, Thrissur 966, Kozhikode 830, Kollam 679, Kottayam 580, Malappuram 527, Alappuzha 521, Thiruvananthapuram 484, Palakkad 424, Kannur 264, Pathanamthitta 230, Idukki 225, Wayanad 159 and Kasaragod 141 cases.
