'Kerala reports only one new case of COVID-19 today and seven recoveries,' says CM

In a major relief to Kerala in its fight against COVID-19, the State reported only one new positive case on Wednesday, while seven patients under treatment have recovered from the deadly disease, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. For the third consecutive day, Kerala has reported more number of COVID-19 patients cured of the disease than positive cases.

The single positive case was reported from Kannur district, where a patient got infected through a primary contact. Besides, two patients from Kasargod district, two from Kozhikode district and one from Kollam district recovered from COVID-19 and tested negative on Wednesday. 

"In our country, the recovery rate is the highest in Kerala. 218 patients have completely been cured of the disease. There is good progress in testing. We are doing an increased number of testing now. However, we cannot afford to give more exemptions and relaxations in the lockdown condition," said the Chief Minister.

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COVID-19 cases in Kerala

As of date, Kerala has reported a total of 387 confirmed cases of COVID-9. Of these, 167 patients are undergoing treatment in various hospitals across the State. Of the total number, 264 cases were those who had returned to Kerala from abroad and other states, eight were foreign nationals and 114 were cases of local transmission.

Currently, 97,464 people are under surveillance in the State. Of these, 96,942 are under home isolation and 522 are in isolation wards in hospitals. 86 persons were hospitalised in Kerala on Wednesday.

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The State has sent 16,472 samples for COVID-19 testing, of which 16,002 samples have turned negative. The CM Vijayan informed that few more private hospitals have offered their infrastructure including ambulances and labour to support the fight against Coronavirus, and for setting up more quarantine facilities.

Meanwhile, the Centre has imposed a complete lockdown in India till May 3 as a measure to prevent the spread of deadly COVID-19 which has infected more than 11,000 people in the country and claimed more than 300 lives. 

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(With inputs from ANI)