Kerala reports highest spike of 111 new COVID-19 cases

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], June 5 (ANI): The COVID-19 positive cases in Kerala touched three-digits for the first time as the state reported its highest number of 111 new cases of the virus in a single day on Friday.
With this, the total number of cases in the state increased to 1,697, out of which 973 are active cases.
Addressing a press meet, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that looking at the numbers since June 1, the situation is getting serious.
"Out of the new cases reported today, 50 are returnees from overseas and 48 have come back from other states. 10 have got infected through primary contact and three are health workers. At the same time, 22 patients under treatment have tested negative today," he said.
The Chief Minister said that antibody tests would be conducted on a large scale to check if there is any community spread in the state.
"We have received 14,000 kits through ICMR. 10,000 of these kits have been given to different districts. We will be getting another 40,000 kits in the next three days. The plan is to conduct up to 15,000 antibody tests per week to check for community spread. If anyone's antibody test is positive, then a PCR test will be conducted to confirm the infection."
He further said that the phasing out of lockdown will be a huge challenge for the state.
"This month, more than 1 lakh people will come from abroad. With the opening of public transport, the number of arrivals will increase significantly. Concessions and relaxations should not, under any circumstances, be a reason for the spread of the disease", he added.
A total of 1,77,106 people are under observation in various districts of the state. Out of these, 1,545 are isolated in hospitals and 1,75,561 are under quarantine at their homes or institutional quarantine centres. (ANI)