Kerala’s COVID-19 case graph continues to rise exponentially on a daily basis and crossed the 4,000 mark on Thursday, registering 4,351 new cases.
As the epidemic curve scales the peak, this case number is likely to go up much further in the coming days, experts have predicted. The number of samples tested in the State in the last 24 hours was 45,730
The State also registered 2,737 recoveries on the same day. The cumulative case burden now stands at 1,22,214
Having registered 87,341 recoveries till date, the number of cases currently being treated in hospitals is 34,314. Among these, 299 persons are critically ill, with 75 persons on ventilator support.
Ten more deaths were added to the official death list of the State, taking the toll to 489. Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam reported three deaths each, Thrissur two and one death each was reported by Malappuram and Kozhikode.
Cause for concern
The rise in active cases is a major concern for the State as the health system capacity may not be able to keep up with the surge in cases. Even with the districts launching home care of asymptomatic and mild patients, Thiruvananthapuram has over 6,000 active cases, while Kozhikode, Malappuram and Ernakulam have over 3,000 active cases.
Of the new cases reported, 95% – 4,153 out of the 4,351 cases – are locally acquired infections, including infections reported in 72 health-care workers. Sixteen of them are in Ernakulam, 15 in Thiruvananthapuram and 12 in Kasaragod. In 351 cases, the source of infection could not be identified.
Surge in capital
Chief Minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, addressing the media, said that the disease transmission in the capital district is a matter of grave concern. Even when disease containment activities had been strengthened, the disease transmission rate was not going down.
The district on Thursday has reported 820 cases, of which all except one lone case being locally transmitted infections. In the past one week alone, Thiruvananthapuram had reported 4,184 cases .
Cases were steadily rising in Kozhikode too with the district registering 545 cases on Thursday. Ernakulam has 383, Alappuzha 367, Malappuram 351, Kasaragod 319, Thrissur 296, Kannur 260, Palakkad 241, Kollam 218, Kottayam 204, Pathanamthitta 136, Wayanad 107 and Idukki 104.
The number of hotspots in the State now is 608.
