Coronavirus | Fewer tests, cases mark new week in Kerala

Yet, positivity rate is above 12%; Telangana adds 1,378 cases; A.P. makes gains on infections; Bengaluru cases down by a third.

The week opened with Kerala registering 4,538 new COVID-19 cases on Monday, and testing 36,027 samples. The dip in cases was in proportion to reduced testing over the weekend by about 20,000 samples. However, the test positivity rate continued to be high at 12.59%.

The number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals was 57,879. Of these, 387 were critically ill and in ICUs and another 98 on ventilator support. Another 20 deaths were added to the State’s toll on Monday. Kozhikode accounted for five deaths, Kasaragod four, Thiruvananthapuram, Kottayam and Malappuram three each and Alapuzha two.

Local transmission was responsible for 95% of new cases. Also, 67 health workers contracted COVID-19, 20 in Kannur and 17 in Thiruvananthapuram.

Kozhikode reported the highest number of cases for the second day with 918 , Ernakulam 537, Thiruvananthapuram 486, Malappuram 405, Thrissur 383, Palakkad 378, Kollam 341, Kannur 310, Alapuzha 249, Kottayam 213, Kasaragod 122, Idukki 114, Wayanad 44 and Pathanamthitta 38.

Andhra Pradesh witnessed a decrease in new infections and deaths. On Monday the State reported 5,487 new cases and 37 fatalities, the lowest in nearly two-and-a-half months. The positivity rate was down to 8.06%, the lowest in 75 days. Over the past day, 66,121 samples were tested. So far 56.66 lakh samples were tested and their positivity rate was 12.02%.The State bulletin said the overall tally of infections climbed to 6,81,161 and the death toll to 5,745. The death rate stood at 0.84% and the recovery rate rose slightly to 89.89% with a total of 6,12,300 recoveries so far, including the 7,210 in the past day. The number of people undergoing treatment is 63,116.

Most districts reported reduced incidence. However, East Godavari and West Godavari showed no slowdown and accounted for 35% of new cases. After a long time, Krishna reported less than 100 new infections.

The district-level new cases and deaths were: East Godavari (1,010 and 4), West Godavari (903, 3), Prakasam (634, 7), Guntur (538, 4), Nellore (489, 1), Vizianagaram (362, 0), Chittoor (329, 6), Anantapur (310, 2), Srikakulam (286, 0), Kadapa (271, 3), Visakhapatnam (145, 2), Kurnool (113, 0) and Krishna (97, 5). Chittoor’s tally crossed 60,000 cases. The district tallies are as follows: East Godavari (95,200), West Godavari (65,336), Chittoor (60,149), Anantapur (56,519), Kurnool (55,798), Guntur (53,782), Nellore (51,488), Visakhapatnam (49,502), Prakasam (47,356), Kadapa (43,132), Srikakulam (38,879), Vizianagaram (34,541) and Krishna (26,584).

Slump in cases in Telangana

It was a slump in testing again on Sunday in Telangana, and a sharply reduced 1,378 cases were recorded, while 35,465 samples were tested. Seven more COVID-19 patients died. The norm was 55,000 to 59,000 tests a day.

The 1,378 new cases included 254 from Greater Hyderabad, 110 from Rangareddy, 78 from Karimnagar, 73 from Medchal Malkajgiri and 61 from Siddipet. Since March 2, when the first coronavirus case was detected in the State, 28,86,334 samples have been put to test and 1,87,211 were found to have COVID infection. With 1,56,431 persons having recovered and 1,107 dead, there are only 29,673 active cases, according to the media bulletin issued by the Health department. The recovery rate in the State stands at 83.55%.

In the 62 State government hospitals, 4,458 oxygen beds and 866 ICU beds were available on Sunday. In case of 225 private hospitals, 2,390 oxygen beds and 2,017 ICU beds were vacant.

Bengaluru Urban saw a 36% reduction in cases on Monday, a day after recording a high of 4,217. With 2,722 new cases, the district tally was 2,23,569. The State as a whole added 6,892 cases.

While the total number of cases rose to 5,82,458, discharges stood at 4,69,750. Active cases continued to remain over a lakh at 1,04,048. Of these, 822 patients are being monitored in the ICUs.

The State also saw a decline in fatalities, as 59 persons succumbed to the virus.

As many as 58,862 tests were conducted in 24 hours including 25,217 rapid antigen tests.

Members of Karnataka State Health and Medical Education Department Contractual Employees’ Forum, who had been on an indefinite strike since September 24, claimed that the dip in numbers was due to their protest. Over 30,000 employees affiliated to these associations stopped work demanding pay parity and COVID-19 incentives.

5,589 new cases in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu reported 5,589 fresh cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 70 deaths on Monday. The number of new cases continued to remain above the 1,000-mark in Chennai as 1,283 persons tested positive, while Coimbatore and Salem recorded 587 and 256 cases respectively.

With the new cases, the State’s tally increased to 5,86,397 of which 46,306 were active cases. As many as 5,554 persons were discharged, taking the total number of persons discharged to 5,30,708.

The State’s toll rose to 9,383. Of the 70 fatalities, 41 persons died in government hospitals. A 25-year-old man from Kancheepuram was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on September 22 due to a fall. He died on September 26 including due to COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure.

As many as 22 patients were aged in their 60s, while 17 persons were aged in their 50s. A total of 13 persons died in Chennai, six in Coimbatore, and five each in Kancheepuram and Tiruvannamalai.

Chennai accounted for a total of 1,64,744 COVID-19 cases till date. Of this, 11,043 persons were under treatment, while 1,50,522 were discharged date. The city accounted for 3,179 deaths.

Both Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts recorded 249 new cases each. The former accounted for a total of 34,855 cases, while the latter’s overall tally was 31,887. Tiruppur recorded 198 cases, while there were 180 cases in Thanjavur. A total of 162 persons tested positive in Cuddalore, while Tiruvannamalai had 151 cases and Kancheepuram 147 cases. There were 146 cases (including an imported case) in Namakkal and 133 cases in Erode. Vellore had 135 cases, including 10 imported cases, and Villupuram 131 cases.

(With inputs from Thiruvananthapuram, Hyderabad and Bengaluru bureaus)

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