Kerala records 1553 new COVID-19 cases, situation 'not good,' cases may go up: CM

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday the situation in the state was "not good", as 1,553 new COVID-19 cases and 10 fatalities were reported taking the infection count to 79,624 and death toll to 315. The number of active cases is 21,516.

"The situation in the state is not good. There is a slip in the number of people getting infected with the virus in the last two days.It is due to the less number of tests carried out during the Onam festival holidays," he told reporters.

The chief minister said the cases may increase in wake of the active functioning of markets and other public places during the Onam holidays. Vijayan said 30,342 samples were tested in the last 24 hours in the state, while 1950 patients recovered.

Out of the fresh cases reported today, 1391 people got infected with the virus through local transmission, while 28 were those who had returned from foreign countries and 90 were returnees from other states. The source of infection is unknown for 156 cases. Vijayan said 40 health workers were also among those infected.

Of the 1553 cases confirmed on Thursday, 229 are from Thiruvananthapuram district, 158 from Kottayam, 135 from Ernakulam district, 122 (Kozhikode), 118-Kasaragod, 97 (Pathanamthitta), 90 (Thrissur), 85 (Malappuram), 83 (Alappuzha), 64 (Kannur), 55 (Kollam), 50 (Palakkad), 20 (Idukki) and 15-Wayanad.

So far, 57,732 people have been cured of Covid and at present, 21,516 patients are undergoing treatment in the State.

Currently, there are a total of 1,92,168 people under quarantine in various districts of the state, 1,74,135 under home or institutional quarantine and 18,033 in hospitals. Vijayan said 1,703 people were admitted to hospitals today.

Till now, a total of 17,55,568 samples have been sent for testing, including 1,80,540 samples from priority groups as part of 'Sentinel Surveillance.' There are eight new hotspots in the State while 14 places were exempted today bringing down the total number of hotspots to 569.

Vijayan said over 9 lakh Keralites have returned to the state after announcement of the nationwide lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus. While 61 per cent of them returned from other states, 3,47,991 Keralites returned from foreign countries.

(Photo Credit: PTI)