State reports 5,214 new cases

The State on Tuesday reported 5,214 new cases of COVID-19 when 69,844 tests were done in the past 24 hours, taking the cumulative case burden to 9,77,394.

While 49,658 of these tests were rapid antigen assay, RT-PCR tests numbered 17,608, while other molecular diagnostic tests such as Truenat, CBNAAT, constituted the remaining tests.

The test positivity rate was 7.47%.

With 6,475 patients reported to have recovered from their disease on the day, the active case pool dropped further to 64,131 cases. The cumulative recoveries till date has risen to 9,09,102.

With 19 more deaths added to the official list of COVID-19 fatalities, the toll ever since the pandemic began has reached 3,902. Thiruvananthapuram reported six deaths, Kozhikode four, Thrissur and Alappuzha two each, and Kollam, Idukki, Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur reported one each.

Official reports said the number of critically ill patients being treated in ICUs in various hospitals was 803 with 227 of them requiring ventilator support

Among districts, Ernakulam reported 615 cases, Kollam 586, Kottayam 555, Thrissur 498, Pathanamthitta 496, Kozhikode 477, Thiruvananthapuram 455, Malappuram 449, Alappuzha 338, Kannur 273, Palakkad 186, Kasaragod 112, Idukki 100 and Wayanad 74.