Kerala records 6,820 new COVID-19 cases, 7,669 recover

 Kerala reported 6,820 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday taking the caseload in the state to 4,45,467, while 7,669 persons recovered from the disease pushing the total recoveries to 3,80,650.

The state also reported 26 deaths today, pushing the death toll to 1,613, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

The state tested 61,388 samples in the last 24 hours,taking the tally of specimens tested to 49,22,200 samples till date.Currently, there are84,087 active cases in the state, Vijayan said, adding that the state was witnessing a dip in the number of positive cases since last week.

"On October 24, the state had 97,417 active cases but it has come down to 84,087.That does not mean that we can lower our guard.We must continue with our health protocol," Vijayan added.

Out of those infected today, 95 reached the state from outside and 5,935 were infected from their contacts.The source of infection of 730 persons is yet to be identified, while 60 health workers are also found infected, Vijayan said.

Thrissur district reported 900 cases on Thursday, the highest in the state, followed by Kozhikode with 828 and Thiruvananthapuram 756.

Ernakulam reported 749 cases today,Alappuzha 660, Malappuram 627, Kollam 523, Kottayam 479, Palakkad 372, Kannur 329, Pathanamthitta 212, Kasaragod 155, Idukki 116 and Wayanad 114.

There are 3,02,919 people under observation in the state, out of which 21,351 are in isolation wards of various hospitals.

There are 12 new hotspots in the state while 12 regions were removed from the the category and currently there are 638 hotspots.