COVID-19: Kerala reports 1,310 new COVID-19 cases

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], July 31 (ANI): Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja on Friday informed that 1,310 new cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in the state since Thursday noon.
Of these, there were 885 active cases, reported on Friday, while 425 results from yesterday afternoon could not be reported due to some technical issues on the ICMR portal. These results were from Thiruvananthapuram, Palakkad, and Kasargod districts.
"Of the positive cases, 1,162 people were infected through contact and the source in 36 cases is unknown. Among these, 48 are those who came from foreign countries and 54 from other states," the minister added.
As many as three deaths were reported from the state on Friday, taking the total count to 73.
Meanwhile, the test results of 864 patients were declared negative earlier in the day. So far, 13,027 people have recovered from the pandemic, while 10,495 patients are undergoing treatment.
At present, there are 1,43,323 persons under observation across the state, 1,33,151 under home or institutional quarantine, and 10,172 in hospitals. As many as,1,292 patients were admitted to the hospital today.
In the last 24 hours, 22,279 samples were tested. Till now, a total of 7,76,268 samples have been sent for testing, of which results of 6,445 samples are yet to come. As part of the Sentinel Surveillance, 1,23,227 samples were collected from priority groups such as health workers, guest workers, and individuals with greater social exposure, and the results of 2,645 samples are awaited.
A total of 14 new places were declared as hotspots while 11 other areas have been exempted. There are presently 498 hotspots in Kerala, the health ministry said. (ANI)