Kerala recorded its highest single-day spike of 608 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, taking the total COVID-19 count to 8,930 of which 4,454 are active cases.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the situation is very serious and it is a matter of grave concern.
"Today's number is the highest count of new positive cases being reported on a single day in the state so far. Of the total cases detected today, Thiruvananthapuram district itself accounts for 201 cases. The spread of COVID is becoming severe every day," he said.
He also condoled the death of a 47-year-old from Alappuzha district who had come back from abroad and died of COVID-19.
In new COVID-19 cases, 130 returned from overseas while 68 came back from other states and 396 are contact cases.
Eight health workers, a BSF jawan, and two personnel each from ITBP and CISF are also infected. There are 26 cases where the source of infection is unknown.
Two hundred and one persons from Thiruvananthapuram district, 70 in Ernakulam district, 58 each from Malappuram and Kozhikode districts, 44 in Kasargod district, 42 from Thrissur district, 34 in Alappuzha district, 26 from Palakkad district, 25 in Kottayam district, 23 from Kollam district, 12 each in Wayanad and Kannur districts, and three from Pathanamthitta district are those who tested positive for coronavirus today.
Meanwhile, the test results of 181 patients undergoing treatment were negative today.
There are currently 1,81,847 people under surveillance in various districts of the state. A total of 1,77,067 are under observation in home or institutional quarantine and 4,780 are isolated in hospitals. A total of 720 persons were hospitalised today.
During the last 24 hours, 14,227 samples were tested. A total of 4,35,043 samples have been sent for testing so far and the results of 7,745 samples are yet to come. As part of Sentinel Surveillance, 79,723 samples were collected from priority groups and 75,338 samples are negative.
Nineteen new places were designated as hotspots today while 10 were excluded from the list. There are 227 hotspots in Kerala now.
( With inputs from ANI )