32,097 new cases in State

Kerala reported 32,097 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, when 1,74,307 samples were tested in the past 24 hours.

The case graph seems to have settled at a higher baseline of a daily caseload of 30-32,000 cases, as was witnessed in the week immediately after Onam.

The test positivity rate has also stabilised around 18% since the past three days and on Thursday stood at 18.41%

Hospitalisations and ICU occupancy figures which rose for six consecutive days, did not show a significant change on Thursday.

Current ICU occupancy of COVID patients in both public and private hospitals in the State was 2,355 (2,354 on Wednesday), while the number of patients requiring ventilator support showed a slight rise from 1,022 to 1,027.

The State’s active case pool has risen from 2, 29,912 patients on Wednesday to 2,40,186 on Thursday, with 21,634 patients reported to have recovered on the day.

There is no let up in COVID deaths. The official cumulative COVID-19 case fatality in the State now stands at 21,149 with the State adding 188 deaths, most of which occurred in the past few days, to the official list of COVID deaths on Thursday.

New hospitalisations continue to show an increase. The number of patients in the State newly admitted to hospitals with COVID was 3,112 on Thursday. Total hospitalisations of people with moderate or severe COVID in the State’s hospitals are also on a steady increase and now stands at 33,282.

The cumulative case burden of the State ever since the pandemic began, now stands at 41,22,133 cases.

Cases and hospitalisations are rising in all districts simultaneously and with the sole exception of Kasaragod and Idukki, all districts have over 10,000 active cases. Hospitalisations have significantly risen in Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam in the space of one week.

Among districts, Thrissur continues to report the highest number of new cases with 4,334 cases, Ernakulam 3,768, Kozhikode 3,531, Palakkad 2,998, Kollam 2,908, Malappuram 2,664, Thiruvananthapuram 2,440, Kottayam 2,121, Alappuzha 1,709, Kannur 1,626, Pathanamthitta 1267, Idukki 1,164, Wayanad 1, 012 and Kasaragod 555 cases.