Kerala Health Minister Veena George has said this trend in Covid cases was expected in the state.
Kerala today reported 20,772 new Covid cases, recording over 20,000 infections for the fourth straight day. The state's test positivity rate (TPR) rose to 13.61 per cent. Up to 116 people died of the disease.
Its caseload touched 33,70,137 while fatalities hit 16,701, according to a government release.
Some of the worst-hit districts were Malappuram (3,670 cases), Kozhikode (2,470), Ernakulam (2,306), Thrissur (2,287), Palakkad (2,070), Kollam (1,415), Alappuzha (1,214), Kannur (1,123), Thiruvananthapuram (1,082), and Kottayam (1030), PTI reported.
Of today's new cases, 81 are health workers, 137 are those from outside Kerala, and 19,622 infected through contact. The source of infection in up to 932 cases could not be determined, the release said.
The number of people cured today was 14,651, taking the total recoveries to 31,92,104; the number of active cases was 1,60,824.
In the past 24 hours, 1,52,639 samples were tested and the test positivity rate stood at 13.61 per cent. There are 678 areas in the state with a TPR of above 10 per cent, the release said.
Up to 4,56,951 people remain under surveillance. Of these, 4,29,118 are at home or in institutional quarantine; 27,833 are in hospitals, the PTI report said.
Around 14 lakh expatriates have come back to Kerala, of which some 10 lakh have cited job loss due to COVID-19 as reason for their return, the government has said. The state has sought a special financial package from the Centre given such a situation.
Kerala Health Minister Veena George has said the state's Covid numbers were not unexpected. A similar trend was seen in the first wave, too, she said last week and termed the phenomenon "dragging the wave".