Kerala’s routine daily testing for COVID-19 dropped by over 22,000 samples on Monday, while cases also dropped drastically to 2,910 from about 4,500 recorded during the past four days.
The State had been registering between 4500-4,700 cases. The number of samples tested was 25,848.
Patients currently being treated for COVID-19 in various hospitals stood at 39,285. Another 18 deaths were added to the State’s 553 cumulative fatalities.
The figure had been steadily climbing for one-and-a-half months as the epidemic curve rose. Seven deaths were reported from Malappuram, four from Thiruvananthapuram and three each from Kannur and Palakkad.
Of Monday’s new cases, 2,741 were locally acquired infections, with the source unknown in 313. This included infections among 88 healthcare workers.
Thiruvananthapuram reported 533 cases, of which all except five were locally transmitted. The district also had the highest number of active cases at 7,147.
Kozhikode reported 376 cases, Malappuram 349, Kannur 314, Ernakulam 299, Kollam 195, Thrissur 183, Palakkad 167, Kottayam 156, Alapuzha, 112, Kasaragod 110, Idukki 82, Wayanad 18 and Pathanamthitta 16 cases.
Telangana’s testing level dropped by nearly half, and only 55% of the usual number of tests were conducted on Sunday. From September 14, around 55,000 samples were tested per day. On Sunday, only 31,095 samples were tested, of which 1,302 were positive. Nine more COVID-19 patients died.
The 1,302 cases included 266 from Greater Hyderabad, 102 from Karimnagar, 98 in Rangareddy, 92 in Siddipet, and 70 from Nalgonda. Of the total, 29,636 were active cases, the media bulletin issued by the Health department said.
Andhra Pradesh reported 6,235 new coronavirus infections on Monday, the lowest single-day tally in two months. Since July 28, the daily infection count was not less than 6,500 and the daily positivity rate varied between 11% and 17%. Also, the number of deaths reported in the past day was the lowest in nearly two months, at 51.
The positivity rate for 56,569 more samples tested, was 11.02%.
East Godavari again had more than 1,000 new cases. Three districts reported less than 200 cases. Krishna reported the highest number of deaths.
There were 7,339 new cases in Karnataka on Monday. The State also reported 122 deaths. Of the 95,335 active cases, 809 patients were in intensive care units.
The Health and Family Welfare department said 42,691 tests were conducted on Monday, with rapid antigen tests accounting for 11,154.
(With inputs from Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Bengaluru bureaus)
