Kerala records 49 new COVID-19 cases today, tally reaches 896

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Monday confirmed 49 new COVID-19 cases in the state, taking the total number of positive cases to 896.

Among the new cases reported in the state, 14 are from Kasaragod district, 10 from Kannur district, five each in Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad districts and four cases from Kozhikode district.

While Pathanamthitta and Alappuzha districts have reported three cases each, two each from Kollam and Kottayam districts and one in Idukki district has been reported.

"25 of those confirmed with the virus have returned from other States (Maharashtra-17, Tamil Nadu-4, Delhi-1 and Karnataka-2) and 18 have come back from other countries (UAE-13, Oman-2, Saudi Arabia-1, Maldives-1 and Kuwait-1). Six are cases of local transmission including a health worker in Thiruvananthapuram and two remand prisoners in Kannur district," the Health Minister informed.

The Health Minister said that there are 359 active cases and 532 people have so far recovered and discharged in the state.

"99,278 people are under observation in various districts of the state. Of these, 98,486 are under house / institutional quarantine and 792 are in hospitals. 152 people were admitted to the hospital today," said Shailaja.

Shailaja said so far samples of 54,899 individuals (including the augmented samples) have been sent for testing. Of the 53,704 samples available, the test results were negative.

In addition, as part of Sentinel surveillance, 8,110 samples were collected from priority groups such as health workers, guest workers, social contacts, and 7,994 samples were negative.

"Today, four more areas have been converted into hot spots. There are currently 59 hot spots," she added.

India witnessed the highest ever spike of 6,977 positive cases in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of COVID-19 cases to 1,38,845, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.