4,545 new Covid cases in Kerala; test positivity rate at 10%

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state on Sunday reported 4,545 new cases of Covid-19, including 4,003 through local transmission. At least 422 cases were of unknown sources while 42 healthcare workers were also among the infected.
To date, 8,11,148 cases of Covid-19 have been reported in the state. At least 4,659 recoveries were also made on the day taking the total to 7,43,467.There are 64,179 active cases.
Meanwhile, the toll in the state reached 3,303 after 23 recent deaths were confirmed as Covid-19-related.
Among the returnees from the UK after December 9, 53 have tested positive to date. Six of them were confirmed with the new strain of the virus that was discovered last month in the UK while other samples are being tested at NIV, Pune.
The state's test positivity rate was 10% after 45,695 samples were tested in a 24-hour period.
Ernakulam reported the highest number of cases, 650 followed by Kozhikode, 558, Pathanamthitta, 447, Malappuram, 441, Kollam, 354, Kottayam, 345, Thrissur, 335, Thiruvananthapuram, 288, Alappuzha, 265, Kannur, 262, Idukki, 209, Palakkad, 175, Wayanad, 173 and Kasaragod,
43.
Pathanamthitta topped the list of districts with most cases (10) among healthcare workers.
The highest number of recoveries on the day was reported from Ernakulam, 718 while Malappuram and Kozhikode had 511 each.
There are 2,03,935 under observation in the state, including 1,92,981 are at homes or institutional quarantine centres and 10,954 in hospitals. At least 1,115 people were hospitalized on Sunday. The state has 441 hotspots after three new places were added to the list and one area was excluded.