The COVID-19 epidemic is plotting a path almost similar to the projections which spoke of a possible peak in the epidemic curve mid-September to the first week of October.
The exponential rise in the case graph was evident with the State registering 6,324 cases on Thursday, quite a jump by over 1,000 cases registered the previous day.
The State also hiked the number of samples tested in the past 24 hours from 51,200 on Wednesday to 54,989 samples on Thursday. However, it is not quite clear what proportion of these tests are done in the private sector.
The number of recoveries reported on the day was 3,168.
The cumulative case burden now stands at 1,54,456. With 1,07,850 recoveries reported so far, the number of patients currently undergoing treatment in hospitals is 45,919. Of these, 371 patients are critically ill and in intensive care units, with 96 patients on ventilatory support.
The State’s death toll is also surging steadily in proportion to the rise in the total number of cases and now stands at 613, with 21 more deaths being added to the official toll on Thursday. These are deaths which occurred between September 4 to 22. Thiruvananthapuram accounted for 11 deaths, Alappuzha 7, while one death each was reported from Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kozhikode.
Close to 96% of the new cases —6,054 out of the 6,324 new cases reported on Thursday — are locally acquired infections, including infections reported in 105 health-care workers. In 628 of the cases, the source of infection remains unknown.
The sudden rise in the number of cases put Kozhikode with 883 new cases at the top of all districts. Thiruvananthapuram closely followed with 875 cases, Malappuram 763, Ernakulam 590, Thrissur 474, Alappuzha 453, Kollam 440, Kannur 406, Palakkad 353, Kottayam 341, Kasaragod 300, Pathanamthitta 189, Idukki 151 and Wayanad 106.
The surge in daily case burden is naturally reflected in the number of active cases in each district with Thiruvananthapuram having the maximum number of active patients at 8,446. Kozhikode has 4,927 and Ernakulam, 4,691 patients. Except for Idukki and Wayanad, all other districts have active cases in four-digits.
The number of hotspots in the State at present is 654.
