The State on Saturday reported 2,397 fresh cases of COVID-19 and 2,225 recoveries.
The cumulative case burden thus rose to 71,701. With the State having reported 48,083 recoveries so far, the number of patients currently undergoing treatment in various hospitals at present is 23,277.
The State’s death toll has risen to 280, with the Health Department confirming six more deaths on Saturday. The deaths had been reported from Kasaragod, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Malappuram, Kannur and Kollam earlier in the week.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, briefing the media here on Saturday, said the COVID-19 epidemic was moving along predicted lines as the natural course of any virus-driven epidemic in the State. The patient numbers were yet to show any unusual spike and this was because of the care and vigil exercised in disease containment, he said.
Of the new cases, almost 92% or 2,203 out of the 2,397 new cases reported are locally acquired infections, including that of 63 health-care workers. In 197 cases, the source of infection remains untraceable.
Thiruvananthapuram reported 408 cases, Malappuram 379, Kollam 234, Thrissur 225, Kasaragode 198, Alappuzha 175, Kozhikode 152, Kottayam 139, Ernakulam 136, Palakkad 133, Kannur 95, Pathanamthitta 75, Idukki 27 and Wayanad 21 cases.
The samples tested by the State in the last 24 hours is 34,988.
The number of hotspots now is 589.