Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala''s COVID-19 tally touched the one lakh mark -- 1,02,254 on Friday, with 2,988 fresh cases being added, seven months after India''s first case was reported from the state, when a Wuhan returned medical student tested positive. The state needs to maintain "extreme vigil" in the coming days as the daily cases have been crossing 3,000, Health minister K K Shailaja said. The toll touched 410, with 14 deaths during the past few days being confirmed due to COVID-19, she said. Of the positive cases, 2,738 were infected through contact and the source of infection of 285 people were not known. Forty five of those infected had come from abroad and 134 from other states.
Fifty two health workers were among those who tested positive today-- the highest from Thiruvananthapuram and Kannur, with 15 each, the minister said in a press release. While 73,904 have so far recovered from the disease, including 1,326 whose samples returned negative today, 27,877 are presently undergoing treatment. A total of 2.03 lakh people are under observation,of whom 21,492 are in hospitals, including 2,689 admitted today. In the last 24 hours 35,056 samples have been tested and so far 20,53,801 samples have been sent for testing.
Thiruvananthapuram reported 494 cases, followed by Malappuram 390, Kollam 302, Ernakulam 295, Kozhikode 261, Kannur 256, Kottayam 221 and Alappuzha 200. The minister said that for the last seven months, the state has been strongly waging a battle against the pandemic. Health workers and all government machinery are engaged in tirelessly fighting the disease, she said. Though the Covid tally touched the one lakh mark, the toll was only 410 and many have recovered, which speaks volumes about the state''s excellent health care sector, the minister said, adding this is also due to the sincere work of the health workers.
In many other states, the toll was between 4-10 per cent of the total number of cases, while in Kerala it was only 0.4 per cent, she said. The first Covid case in India was reported from Thrissur on January 30 when a Wuhan returned medical student tested positive for the virus. The second and third cases were also Wuhan returnees from the state.
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