For fifth day in a row, Kerala logs over 20,000 fresh coronavirus cases

For the fifth

consecutive day, Kerala recorded more than 20,000 fresh COVID-19 cases on Saturday, but saw a decline in fatalities and a fall in the Test Positivity Rate to 12.31 per cent.

The state had recorded 100 deaths on Friday, while the TPR was 13.61 per cent.

On Saturday, Kerala logged 20,624 fresh cases, pushing the infection caseload to 33,90,761, while 80 more deaths took the toll to 16,781, Health Minister Veena George said.

As many as 16,865 people have been cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 32,08,969, leaving 1,64,500 active cases, a state government release said.

Malappuram was the worst affected district, logging 3,474 cases, followed by Thrissur (2693), Palakkad (2209), Kozhikode (2113), Ernakulam (2072), Kollam (1371), Kannur (1243), Alappuzha (1120),Kottayam (1111) and Thiruvananthapuram (969).

Of the new cases, 98 are health workers, 112 had come from outside the state and 19,487 were infected through contact, with the source of contact being not clear in 927 cases, the release said.

In the last 24 hours, 1,67,579 samples were tested and the TPR was found to be 12.31 per cent.

So far, 2,72,17,010 samples have been tested, it said.

There are currently 4,55,078 people under surveillance in various districts.

Of these, 4,26,640 are in home or institutional quarantine and 28,438 in hospitals.

There are 678 areas in the state with a TPR of above 10 per cent, the release said.