As it happens every Monday in the State, a slump in COVID-19 testing in Kerala over the weekend by nearly half the number of tests done daily, saw the new cases reported on the day drop to 3,272. The samples tested in the past 24 hours were 33,758.
However, despite the dip in testing, the test positivity rate remained steady at 9.69%, indicating that the State’s COVID case graph is on an extended plateau, with disease transmission remaining low yet steady across districts.
More recoveries
With 4,705 recoveries – more recoveries than new cases – being reported on Monday, the active case pool dipped below 60,000 to 59,467 cases.
So far, 5,77,616 patients have made a recovery from COVID-19 in the State.
Another 23 deaths were marked as COVID deaths by the State on Monday, taking the official toll till date to 2,441. Kozhikode reported five deaths, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur four each, Malappuran and Alappuzha three each while Kollam and Kottayam accounted for two deaths each.
Official figures put the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients currently undergoing treatment in ICUs in various hospitals in the State at 857, with 204 of them requiring ventilator support.
Local transmission
Of the 3,272 new cases reported on Monday, 3,223 are locally acquired infections, while in 49 cases, the Health Department reported a history of travel outside the State. Among the locally acquired infections, 328 cases have not been traced to a known source of infection, while the number of health-care workers who got infected was 36.
Among the districts, Malappuram reported 541 cases, Kozhikode 383, Thrissur 304, Kollam 292, Alappuzha 287, Ernakulam 278, Thiruvananthapuram 255, Kottayam 202, Palakkad 202, Kannur 154, Idukki 146, Pathanamthitta 121, Wayanad 63, and Kasaragod 44 cases.
