Thiruvananthapuram : Health minister, Smt K K Shailaja on Thursday informed that 24 new cases of Covid-19 were confirmed in Kerala. Five persons in Malappuram district, four from Kannur district, three in Kottayam and Thrissur districts, and two each from Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam and Alappuzha districts and one each in Idukki, Palakkad and Kasargod districts are those who have been tested positive. Of these, 14 have come back from overseas (UAE-8, Kuwait-4, Qatar-1 & Malaysia-1) and 10 have returned from other states (Maharashtra-5, Tamil Nadu-3, Gujarat-1 & Andhra Pradesh-1).
At the same time, eight patients under treatment for Coronavirus have tested negative today. Five patients in Wayanad district and one each from Kottayam, Ernakulam and Kasargod districts are those who were cured of the disease.
The total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Kerala is 690 and currently, 177 patients are under treatment in various hospitals across the State. So far 510 patients have recovered from the disease.
As on today, 80,138 persons are under observation in different districts in the State – 79,611 at their homes or institutional quarantine centres and 527 under isolation in hospitals. 153 persons were hospitalised today.
So far, samples from 49,833 people have been sent for testing and of the available results, 48,276 samples have been confirmed with no infection. Apart from this, as part of sentinel surveillance of high-risk category consisting of healthcare workers, migrant labourers and those with higher public contacts, 6,540 samples were collected and tested separately. Of these, 6,265 samples have been confirmed with no infection. 1,798 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.
Three new places were declared as hotspots today – two in Palakkad district and one in Kannur district. At the same time, eight places were removed from the hotspot list. There are 28 hotspots in the State now.
Till now, 78,096 people have arrived in the State from other countries and other states – 5,495 through airports, 1,621 through the seaport, 68,844 by road through check posts and 2,136 by train.