Kerala on Friday reported 8,867 new Covid-19 cases with a test positivity rate (TPR) of 11.14% after 79,554 samples were tested, said the state health ministry, adding that out of 94,756 active cases, only 9.8 per cent are in the hospitals.
Kerala also reported 67 deaths on Friday, taking the toll to 26,774. Though the health department added 7,000 deaths to the Covid-19 list recently, these numbers failed to figure in the total fatality list. When asked about this, a senior health department official said some more formalities will have to be completed.
Three districts, Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur, reported more than 1000 cases.
State health minister Veena George said at least 25 per cent of the newly infected had not taken the vaccine. At least 93.7 per cent of the eligible population got one vaccine and 44.9 per cent got both shots, she said, adding the vaccination rate of the state is one of the best in the country. She asked the remaining people to take the jab at the earliest.
In the last 24 hours, the country reported 16,862 fresh virus cases with a TPR of 1.43 per cent. For more than five months, Kerala has been contributing a lion’s share of virus cases in the country. After Onam festivities in August, cases multiplied and at one point it claimed more than 70 per cent of the total cases of the country.
