Kerala reports 3,972 new coronavirus cases, 340 more deaths

Kerala on Friday recorded 3,972 new COVID cases and 340 deaths, which took the caseload to 51,75,204 and the toll to 42,579.

Of the 340, 31 were recorded over the last few days and 309 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court, a state government release said.

With 4,836 more people recovering from the virus since Thursday, the total recoveries reached 51,04,456 and the active cases dropped to 39,341, it said.

As many as 66,788 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, it said.

Among the 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram recorded the highest with 690 fresh cases, followed by Ernakulam (658) and Kozhikode (469).

Of the new cases, 26 were health workers, 10 from outside the state and 3,736 infected through contact with the source of it not being clear in 200.

There are currently 1,61,893 people under surveillance in various districts, of whom 1,57,300 are in home or institutional quarantine and 4,593 in hospitals, the release said.