Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan
Photo credit: ANI

In a relief, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan today announced that one-time financial help of Rs 3 lakhs will be given to the children who have lost their parents due to COVID-19. Besides, Rs 2,000 per month will be given to these children till the 18 years of age and the state government will also bear the cost of their education till degree-level.

The CM also revealed new COVID-19 cases registered in the state today. 24,166 new cases and 181 deaths were reported in Kerala in the last 24 hours while active cases stand at 2,41,966.

Recoveries outnumbered new cases with 30,539 people under treatment testing negative for the virus, taking the total recoveries to 21,98,135. Active cases stood at 2,41,966.

As many as 1,35,232 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the test positivity rate to 17.87 per cent. Malappuram recorded the highest number of 4,212 cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 3,210 and Ernakulam 2,779, a health department release said.