Kerala reports 543 new coronavirus cases, 81 deaths in past 24 hours

Kerala reported 543 new cases of COVID-19 and 81 deaths on Friday and took the total to 65,30,194 and 67,631 so far.

Of the 81, two occurred in the last few days but were not recorded due to late receipt of documents and 79 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court.

The State tested 17,804 samples in the last 24 hours.

Among the districts, Ernakulam reported the most number of cases with 109 followed by Kottayam (78) and Thiruvananthapuram (60), an official press release said.

There are 15,298 people now under observation, out of which 460 are in the isolation wards of hospitals, said the release.

Out of those found infected today, three reached the State from outside while 507 contracted the disease from their contacts. The source of infection of 27 is yet to be traced. Six health workers are among the infected.

Meanwhile, 972 recuperated from the disease and took the total cured to 64,57,300 till now.