Kerala: 623 virus cases push tally past 9,500 with one death

Kerala, which is in the third phase of the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, witnessed the highest single day surge of 623 on Wednesday.

The total infection tally crossed the 9,500-mark and the death toll climbed to 35 with a woman succumbing to the virus in Idukki. This is the second consecutive day that the daily spike has crossed 600. On Tuesday, 608 cases were reported.

The infection through contact rose to 432 on Wednesday,Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said. The total infection count touched 9,553 and 4,880 are under treatment and 4,636 people have recovered, including 196 discharged during the day.

Thiruvananthapuram has the highest number of patients - 939, followed by Malappuram 563, Alappuzha 520 and Ernakulam 475. The death toll has touched 36 with one more fatality being reported. A woman from Rajakkad in Idukkidistrict died of the virus on Sunday.

While 96 had come from abroad, 76 had come from other states, the Chief Minister told reporters here. This is the first timethat 432 had been infected through contact and the source of infectionof 37 people is not known. Nine health workers and nine Defence Service Corps (DSC) personnel have tested positive today. Among the 14 districts, Thiruvananthapuram reported the highest number of cases at 157, including 130 infected through contact.

Cases in other districts: Kasaragod-74), Ernakulam-72, Kozhikode and Pathanamthitta-64 each, Idukki-55, Kannur-35, Kottayam-25, Alappuzha-20, Palakkad-19, Malappuram-18, Kollam-11, Thrissur-5 and Wayanad-4. In the last 24 hours, 16,444 samples have been sent for testing.

At least 1.84,600 lakh people are under observation and 4989 in various hospitals, including 602 admitted during the day, Vijayan said. Samples of 2,60,353 lakh people have been sent for testing so far. The total number of hot spots has touched 234 as of today.