Kerala reports surge in Covid cases, highest one-day count in 3 months
The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) jumped to 19.03% from 18.04% on TuesdayThe last time the state crossed the 30,000 mark was on May 20 when it logged 30,491 Covid-19 cases
Kerala registered 31,445 fresh cases of coronavirus and 215 deaths on Wednesday, pushing the total infection count to 38,83,429 and the fatalities to 19,972 so far.
The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) jumped to 19.03% from 18.04% on Tuesday. The state also witnessed 20,271 recoveries in a span of 24 hours.
The last time the state crossed the 30,000 mark was on May 20 when it logged 30,491 Covid-19 cases.
After the Onam festivities, medical experts had predicted that the TPR would go beyond 20% and that the number of infections would rise further.
Since July 27, after the Bakrid celebrations when restrictions were relaxed for a few days, Kerala has been logging more than or close to 20,000 cases on almost every day.
The release further said that as many as 20,271 people have been cured of the infection since Tuesday, taking the total recoveries to 36,92,628 and the number of active cases to 1,70,292. In the last 24 hours, 1,65,273 samples were tested and the TPR was found to be 19.03 per cent.
Till now, 3,06,19,046 samples have been tested, it said. Among districts, Ernakulam recorded the highest number with 4,048 cases, followed by Thrissur (3,865), Kozhikode (3,680), Malappuram (3,502), Palakkad (2,562), Kollam (2,479), Kottayam (2,050), Kannur (1,930) Alappuzha (1,874), Thiruvananthapuram (1,700), Idukki (1,166) Pathanamthitta (1,008) and Wayanad (962).
Of the new cases, 123 were health workers, 138 from outside the state and 29,608 infected through contact, with the source of the contact not being clear in 1,576 cases, the release said.
There are currently 4,70,860 people under surveillance in various districts. Of these, 4,44,278 are in home or institutional quarantine and 26,582 in hospitals.
BJP targets Kerala govt over high Covid cases
With Kerala constantly reporting well over half of the country's daily COVID-19 cases, the BJP on Wednesday accused the Left government in the state of doing little to mitigate the health crisis and being busy in "covering it up" through motivated propaganda.
BJP spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said Kerala is in the grip of COVID-19, and the state government is busy covering it up.
"Especially the newsreader turned health minister is busy reading the wrong script and spreading disinformation that everything is hunky-dory in Kerala," he said.
The reality is that while the disease in almost all other parts of the country is under control, little effort is being made to curb it in the state, he claimed.
Alleging that the state government has launched a "massive cover-up" by spreading disinformation, he said people of Kerala are suffering.
Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!