Kerala's COVID-19 tally crosses 38,000; Toll rises to 125

Kerala on Wednesday reported 1,212 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 22 health workers, and five deaths taking the infection count to38,144 and the toll to 125.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the day's recoveries stood at 880 and there were 13,045 active cases.

"Out of the 1,212 new cases, 1,068 are through their contacts. The source of 45 cases are yet to be identified.

Fiftyone people came from abroad while 64 from other states.

22 of the affected arehealth workers," he told reporters here.

The five who succumbed to the deadly virus were aged 53, 50, 77, 55 and 89 and belonged to Ksaragod, Ernakulam, Idukki, Thiruvananthapuram and Kottayam districts.

Vijayan with the 880 people cured, the cumulative recoveries in the state had risen to 24,926.

"Currently, 13,045 people are under treatment for COVID-19 in the state. At least 1,51,752 people are under observation, including 12,426 in isolation wards of various hospitals across the state," he said.

The state tested 28,644 samples in the last24 hours, the chief minister said.

He also said 30 more regions in the state have been categorised as hot spots,taking the total number to540.

Thiruvananthapuram, the capital district has 3,109 cases, the highest in the statefollowed by Malappuram with 1,726 cases.

Ernakulam has 1,355 cases, Kozhikode (1,237), Alappuzha (1,182) and Kasaragod (1,030) among the districts with high numbers.