Kerala reported 794 new cases of COVID-19 on Monday, taking the total number of active patients in the state to 7,611.
Health Minister KK Shailaja said that 519 people contracted the disease through contact and the source of infection of 24 cases could not be traced. At least 253 tested positive following their return to the state from other states and countries.
There are now more than 2,000 active cases in Thiruvananthapuram, which has been witnessing a surge in COVID-19 patients in recent weeks. On Monday, 182 more people were infected with 170 of them getting the disease through local transmission.
The strict restrictions and lockdown in parts of the city were extended to July 28, after two areas in Thiruvananthapuram -- Poonthura and Pulluvila -- reported community transmission.
On Monday, the shopping licenses of two big shopping complexes in the city -- Pothys and Ramachandran -- were cancelled after health officials found that physical distancing norms were violated and many employees were infected. The city mayor K Sreekumar said that the employees at the stores neglected repeated instructions to follow COVID-19 protocol.
Ernakulam has the most number of cases after Thiruvananthapuram, with 832 people under treatment for COVID-19. A 73-year-old nun who died in Ernakulam on July 16 was later found to be positive for the coronavirus, taking the death toll of the disease in the state to 44.
There have also been 245 recoveries on Monday, with 93 of them coming from Palakkad, which had the most number of active cases till a few weeks ago.
There are now more than 1.65 lakh people under observation across the state with more than 1.57 lakh of them in home or institutional quarantine.
As many as 14,640 samples were tested from Sunday to Monday. A total of 5,46,000 samples have been sent for testing so far in the state.