Kerala Logs 45,136 New Covid Cases, 132 Deaths. Positivity Rate Reaches 44.8%

According to the health department, 1,00,735 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the active caseload in the state stood at 2,47,227.

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing spike in Covid infections, Kerala on Saturday clocked 45,136 new cases, pushing the tally to 55,74,702 over the last 24 hours. The state also reported 132 deaths taking the toll to 51,739.

As many as 21,324 patients recovered taking the total recoveries to 52,97,971. According to the health department, 1,00,735 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the active caseload in the state stood at 2,47,227. The fresh infections took the test positivity rate in the state to 44.8%.

Earlier on Friday, Kerala logged 41,668 fresh infections and 33 fatalities, witnessing a spike in Covid cases by 206% as compared to last week.

With the massive spike, the number of patients under treatment had risen by 201% and the number of those who had to be hospitalised had shot up by 80%.Those in field hospitals rose by 126%, ICU and ventilator occupancy increased by 56% and 18% respectively. The number of Covid patients needing oxygen supply had also seen a 77% rise as compared to the previous week.

Meanwhile, amid the surge, the Centre asked the Kerala government to clarify over its mechanism of reporting Covid deaths saying that the daily reconciliation of a large number fatalities has been misleading the Covid scenario, affecting the planning of public health response.

In a letter to the state government, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said that Kerala reported 20,563 reconciled Covid deaths since October 22 last year.

Earlier, the state Health Minister Veena George had said that 100% of the targeted population above the age of 18 years have been administered the first dose of Covid vaccine and 83% of the total population have got both the doses.

In a bid to control the surge in cases, the Kerala government on Thursday had decided to impose lockdown-like curbs in the state on the next two Sundays, allowing only essential services to function.

Meanwhile, India witnessed 3.37 lakh Covid cases over the last 24 hours on Saturday. With 2.42 lakh patients recovering, the active caseload of the country stood at 21,13,365. The Omicron count reached 10,050 in the time period.