Kerala's COVID-19 tally crosses 20,000 mark; Toll climbs to 67

Kerala reported its highest single day spike of 1,167 COVID-19 cases so far of 1167, taking the infection tally to 20,894 while the death toll climbed to 67 with four more fatalities on Tuesday.

Thirtythree health workers were among the infected and the active cases stood at 10,091 while 679 people were discharged on Tuesday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

At the Kinfra Park in Menamkulam here around 300 people were tested and 88 of them found positive for the virus, he said.

Dismissing allegations that several COVID-19 deaths were not being reported in the state, he said the state government has been declaring the fatalities as per the guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation.

"As per the guidelines, it's a COVID death when a person dies due to severe coronavirus infection fatally affecting his organs. If a COVID patient dies in an accident or commits suicide or is drowned, it's not a COVID death," he said.

The expert panel of the health department will take the decision.

Of the fresh cases, a total of 888 were infected through contacts while the source of infection of 55 people was not yet known, he told reporters here.

While 122 people had come from abroad, as many as 96 returned to Kerala from other states.

The four deaths were reported from Ernakulam, Kasaragod, Alappuzhaand Thiruvananthapuram districts, Vijayan said.

Over 1.56 lakh people were under observation.

Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam, Malappuram and Thrissur districts recorded over 100 cases on Tuesday and there were 486 hotspots in the state.

In the last 24 hours, 19,140 samples were tested, taking the cumulative to 3,62,210specimens. Results were awaited for 6,596 samples.

Thiruvananthapuram with 227 cases on Tuesday topped the districts in the fresh infections, followed by Kottayam 118, Malappuram 112 and Thrissur 109.