16,848 fresh COVID cases in Kerala, TPR rises close to 12 pc

Kerala on Tuesday recorded 16,848 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the infection caseload to 31,87,716, with the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) climbing close to 12 per cent after remaining around the 10 per cent mark for several weeks.

The number of people who have succumbed to the virus rose to 15,512 with 104 more deaths, a state government release said. As many as 12,052 people have been cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 30,45,310 and the number of active cases to 1,26,398, the release said.

Malappuram accounted for most number of cases (2752), followed by Thrissur (1929), Ernakulam (1901), Kozhikode (1689), Kollam (1556), Palakkad (1237), Kottayam (1101), and Thiruvananthapuram (1055).

Of the new cases, 109 are health workers, 101 had come from outside the state and 15,855 were infected through contact, with the source of contact being not clear in 783 cases, the release said. In the last 24 hours,1,41,431 samples were tested and the Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was found to be 11.91 per cent.

The cumulative number of specimens examined so far is 2,55,72,679. There are currently 4,05,178 people under surveillance in various districts of the state. Of these, 3,80,426 are in-home or institutional quarantine and 24,752 in hospitals.