1298 fresh COVID-19 cases in Kerala; death toll climbs to 97

Among the 1,289 coronavirus cases, 1,017 were infected through contact and the source of infection of 76 people is not yet known

Thiruvananthapuram: In the highest single day surge, Kerala reported 1,298 fresh COVID-19 positive cases on Thursday, as the infection tally breached the 30,000 mark and the death toll climbed to 97.

Of the positive cases, 1,017 were infected through contact, while the source of infection of 76 people is not yet known, health minister KK Shailaja said.

The fresh cases include 29 health workers. The total COVID-19 cases touched 30,443 today and 11,983 people are presently under treatment, while 18,337 have recovered so far, including 800 whose tests returned negative today.

Thiruvananthapuram, which has 3,177 patients, including 219 fresh infections, continues to top the districts in viral load, followed by Kozhikode 174, Kasaragod 153, Palakkad 136, Malappuram 129 and Alappuzha 99, the minister said in a release here.

The test results of three people, who died recently, have returned positive, taking the toll to 97.

Of the fresh positive cases, 78 have returned from abroad and 170 from other states.

At least 1,48,039 people are presently under observation and 1,36,602 are in home/institutional quarantine and 11,437 are in hospitals, including 1,390 admitted today.

In the last 24 hours, 25,205 samples have been tested.

So far 9,08,355 samples have been tested and results of 6,346 are awaited, the minister said.