Covid-19 pandemic: Kerala logs 54,537 new cases and 352 deaths

The number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala continued to rise unabated, with the state reporting 54,537 cases on Friday taking the infection count to 58,81,133.

According to the health department, 352 deaths were reported, pushing the death toll to 52,786.

Among the latest fatalities, 94 were recorded over the last few days, while 258 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.

Yesterday, the state reported 51,739 new COVID-19 cases, while on Tuesday Kerala had registered 55,475 cases, the highest ever single day spike in the infection since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020.

Among the districts, Ernakulam reported the highest number of cases today--10,571, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 6,735 and Thrissur 6,082.

The health department said 1,15,898 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

"Currently, there are 3,33,447 active COVID-19 cases in the state of which 3.5 per cent are admitted to various hospitals," the health department said in a release.

Meanwhile, 30,225 persons recuperated from the disease, taking the total cured to 54,94,185.