Kerala reported 6,004 COVID-19 cases, including a UK returnee, on Wednesday, taking the infection tally to8.25 lakh and over 65,000 people are presently undergoing treatment for the infection. As many as 5158 have been cured, taking the total recoveries to 7,56,817 and the active cases mounted to 65,373, Health minister K K Shailaja said in a press release. In the last 24 hours, 69,081 samples have been tested and the test positivity rate has touched 8.69 per cent. So far 86,20,873 samples have been sent for testing, the release said.
Ernakulam topped in the list of cases with 988, Kozhikode had 669, Kottayam 589 and Kollam 528. A UK returnee was among the positive cases reported in in the last 24 hours, the minister said adding that at least 56 people who had come back from Britain had tested positive for the infection.
Their samples have been sent to the National Institute of Virology, Pune, for further tests for the variant strain. The toll has mounted to 3,373 with 26 recent deaths being added to the tally after their samples tested positive for the virus.
Of the positive cases,53 were health workers, 73 had come from outside the state and 5,401 were infected through contact, the release said. At least 2,00,259 people are presently under observation in various districts, including 10,709 in hospitals.
