The State on Saturday reported 2,035 new cases of COVID-19 when 58,344 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative case burden to 10,89,478 cases. The test positivity rate on the day was 3.49%.
With 3,256 recoveries being reported, the active case pool dropped again to reach 30,939.
The cumulative recoveries has risen to 10, 53,859. The addition of 12 new deaths which took place in the past few days to the official list took the cumulative death toll till to 4,381.
Thrissur reported three deaths, while one death each was reported in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Idukki, Malappuram, Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasaragod
The number of critically ill patients who are currently being treated in ICUs in various hospitals has dropped to 504, according to reports, with 167 of them requiring ventilator assistance.
Of the 2,035 new cases, 1,820 cases are believed to be locally acquired infections, through the contact with other infected persons. This includes infections reported in 13 health-care workers. In 48 cases, the Health Department has reported a history of travel to other States. No history of travel or contact with infected persons are reported or known in the case of 167 infections
Among districts, Kozhikode reported the maximum number of new cases with 255 cases, Ernakulam 232, Kollam 224, Kannur 205, Malappuram 173, Kottayam 168, Thiruvananthapuram 162, Thrissur 153, Alappuzha 133, Kasaragod 84, Palakkad 80, Pathanamthitta 70, Wayanad 53 and Idukki 43.
Foreign travellers
One more person from South Africa and another from Brazil, who reached Kerala in the past 24 hours, have tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.
With this, a total of 103 persons who reached from abroad since mid-December have tested positive. This includes 99 persons from the U.K., three from South Africa and one from Brazil. Official reports said that 89 of them have since tested negative.
So far, 11 persons, including one contact of a U.K. returnee, have tested positive for the virus variant B.1.1.7.
