With Kerala reporting 3,966 fresh COVID-19 cases on Friday, the total number of people under treatment in the state rose to 63,885. The number of recoveries at 4,544, were reported to be more than the confirmed cases on Friday. The state also reported 23 COVID-19 related deaths on Friday, taking the total death toll to 2,172.
With this, Kerala's total COVID-19 tally touched 5.87 lakh on Friday. The total number of recoveries stand at 5,21,522, said Health Minister KK Shailaja.
"Out of the total cases today, 3,348 were cases of local transmission and the source of infection was unknown for 488. Of those diagnosed, 81 have arrived from outside the state. There were 49 health workers among the infected," the Minister said.
In the statement, the Minister said 39,108 samples were tested and the test positivity rate is 10.14%. Positivity rate is the percentage of tests that return positive among the number of samples tested. A total of 61,14,029 samples have been sent for testing till now.
Malappuram topped the districts in the fresh cases with 612 followed by Thrissur (525) Ernakulam (397) Kozhikode (374) and Palakkad (351). Kasargod recorded the lowest at 96.
At least 3,13,608 people have been kept under observation across the state out of which 16,077 are in isolation wards of various hospitals. One place each in Thrissur and Ernakulam districts were declared as new hotspots while 20 areas were removed from the list. There are 527 hotspots in the state now.
Meanwhile, the state recently brought some changes in the protocol for conducting funerals of people who died due to COVID-19. As per the new rules, family of the deceased can perform the religious last rites. But it will not be allowed to touch, bath, kiss or embrace the mortal remains. The funerals can be attended by a maximum of 20 people.