Kerala reported 4,470 new cases of COVID -19 on Thursday, when 52,769 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. The cumulative case burden of the State now stands at 6,54,041 cases.
The test positivity rate remained at 8.47%, not showing much decline in disease transmission.
More recoveries than new cases were reported on Thursday, with 4,847 patients getting discharged from hospitals across the State.
The active caseload of the State dropped further to 59,517 cases, while the cumulative recoveries till date rose to 5,91,845 cases.
Another 26 deaths were entered into the official COVID death list of the State on Thursday, which took the COVID toll of the State till date to 2,533.
Palakkad reported six of these deaths, Thiruvananthapuram four, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Malappuram and Kozhikode three each, Kannur two and Kollam and Kottayam reported one death each.
Official figures put the number of COVID patients who are critically ill in ICUs in various hospitals in the State at present at 857, with 219 of them requiring ventilator support.
Of the 4,470 new cases reported on Thursday, 4,393 cases are locally acquired infections, while in 77 cases, Health Department recorded a history of travel outside the State. Among the locally acquired infections, the source of infection could not be traced in 498 cases, while 37 health care workers were also reported to have contracted the infection.
Among districts, Malappuram reported 700 cases, Kozhikode 578, Ernakulam 555, Thrissur 393, Kottayam 346, Kollam 305, Alapuzha 289, Thiruvananthapuram 282, Palakkad 212, Idukki 200, Pathanamthitta 200, Kannur 186, Wayanad 114 and Kasaragod 110 cases.
