Covid-19 pandemic: Kerala reports 28,481 new cases in last 24 hours

COVID-19 infections in Kerala on Tuesday witnessed a steep rise as the state reported 28,481 new positive cases taking the infection count to 54,07,312.

Kerala had reported 22,946 cases on Monday.

State Health Minister Veena George said the state had tested 80,740 samples in the last 24 hours and there are over 1.42 lakh active COVID-19 cases in the state.

On Tuesday, Kerala reported 122 deaths taking the toll in the state to 51,026.

Among today's fatalities, 39 were recorded over the last few days and 83 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.

"Currently, there are 1,42,512 active COVID-19 cases in the state out of which only 3.4 per cent are admitted to hospitals," the Health department said in a release.

Among the districts, Thiruvananthapuram reported 6,911 cases, followed by Ernakulam with 4,013 and Kozhikode with 2,967.

Out of those found infected today, 165 reached the state from outside while 27,522 contracted the disease from their contacts. The sources of infection of 579 are yet to be traced. As many as 215 health workers are also among the infected.

Meanwhile, 7,303 people recovered from the infection on Tuesday taking the total cured in the state to 52,36,013.

The minister also informed that 99.8 per cent (2,66,57,881) of the targeted population has been administered with the first dose of vaccine while 83 per cent (2,20,61,640) have received both the doses.