Kerala's single day cases cross 1,000 mark for first time; Tally touches 15,032

In the highest single day surge so far, Kerala on Wednesday reported 1,038 fresh COVID-19 cases, including 24 health workers and five councillors, taking the infection tally to 15,032. The death toll climbed to 45 with a 75-year-old man from Idukki succumbing to the virus.

As many as 8,818 people were presently under treatment with 53 of them in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs), including nine with ventilator support, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters here. A total of 272 people recovered from the infection while 1.59 lakh people were under observation, he said.

As the spike in cases continued unabated, the LDF government convened a virtual all-party meeting on Friday to discuss the pandemic situation. Vijayan also said some experts have suggested imposing a complete lockdown again to contain the spread and the government might have to look into it.

"Such demands have come from various quarters. We have not taken any decision yet. We will seriously consider it," he said.

While the situation remained grim in the state capital, which has the highest number of 2,421 cases, the virus was spreading rapidly in Aluva at Kochi, prompting authorities to impose curfew there and nearby panchayats, Vijayan said, adding there was need to be more cautious.

Kerala crossed the grim milestone of 1,000 cases in a single day, nearly two-and-half months after the state on May 8 declared it had flattened the coronavirus curve, reporting a solitary case that took the active cases then to just 16. With more and more people returning to the state mainly from the Gulf and other parts of the country, the case load has been soaring since last month.

On Wednesday, as many as 785 people were found to have contracted the illness through contacts while the source of infection of 57 people was not yet known.

Of the new cases, a total of 87 had come from abroad and 109 from other states.

Five councillors of the Thiruvananthapuram Corporation and 24 health workers, including 18 from the state capital, were among the fresh cases.

Thiruvananthapuram reported 226 cases, including 205 who were infected through contacts, Vijayan said. The coastal areas of the district, where community transmission has been reported in two hamlets, are under complete lockdown. Other districts that reported high number of cases on Wednesday are Kollam 133, Alappuzha 120, Kasaragod 101 and Ernakulam 92.

In the last 24 hours, over 20,847 samples have been tested whilethe cumulative tally rose to 3,18,644, Vijyan said. A total of 1,59,777 people were under observation with 9,031, including 1,164 admitted on Wednesday, in various hospitals. In India, the case per millionis 864.4 while in Kerala it was 419.1and the country's fatality rate was 2.41 against Kerala's 0.31, the chief minister said.

Eighty ventilators have been procured recently and 270 ICU ventilators had been received from the Centre and within two weeks 50 more were expected,he said, adding the health department has stocked 3.42 lakh N95 masks and 3.86 lakh personal protection equipment (PPE) kits among others.

Other than the COVID hospitals, the health department has set up 15,975 beds as part of first-line treatment centres across the state, Vijayan said. On cases registered against 300 unidentified people who gathered before an examination centre here to receive students after the combined entrance examination for engineering and other courses, he said it should have been controlled. "There is no need to blame the kids for it. We will look into it," he added.