Kerala reported20,772 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, taking the total active case tallyin the state to 1,60,824. The test positivity rate in the state stands at 13.61per cent.
The state alsoregistered 116 fatalities in the past 24 hours. With this, the death toll inKerala climbed to 16,701.
As many as 14,651people recovered from the virus during the same time period, taking totalrecoveries to 31,92,104.
Meanwhile, Karnataka andcapital Bengaluru today recorded a steep spike in Covid cases.
In the last 24 hours,1,52,639 samples were tested for Covid-19 in the state.
The Kerala HealthMinister Veena George said, “The second wave started in Kerala in mid-April andon May 12, we had more than 43,500 cases. And then, the number of cases starteddeclining, and we entered a plateau. We're still going through that phase. Ourtest positivity rate (TPR) is around 12 per cent.”
She further added,“This was the case in the first wave, too. In January, we reported the maximumnumber of cases -- almost 50 per cent -- in India. In Kerala, no patients diedwithout oxygen, hospital beds or ICU facilities. Even in this phase, hospitaloccupancy is low. As I told you, we have a high testing rate and we're doingtargeted testing. Cases rose because of the Delta variant.”
As per the Ministryof Health and Family Welfare's press statement, it was also underlined that anylaxity at this stage will result in the deterioration of the situation in thesedistricts.
Dr Balram Bhargava,DG ICMR and Secretary (DHR), was also present during the meeting and warnedagainst any complacency with around 40,000 cases being reported daily since thepreceding weeks.
He highlighted that46 districts in India are showing more than 10% positivity while another 53districts are showing a positivity between 5%-10%.