Kerala reported 62 new Coronavirus cases on Saturday, marking a record for daily additions since it started reporting COVID-19 from January.
Out of the 62 new cases, 6 are cases of local transmission, 7 are local health workers, 31 are among people who returned from other states and the remaining are among people who came via Vande Bharat flights.
This is the highest single-day increase for the state. The previous record was set yesterday, at 42 cases. The third highest number was reported two days after the lockdown was imposed, on March 27, when 39 new cases were reported.
With the latest addition, the total number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala has increased by 29% to over 270.
Another 187 people have been moved to isolation for further testing due to the manifestation of symptoms. Their results will be available tomorrow and the day after.
These people includes those who were screened at various airports, railway stations, bus terminals and quarantine facilities.
Almost 1 lakh people have now reached the state in the last 12 days, and are under various forms of quarantine.
Out of these, around 650 suspected cases are in hospital isolation due to the presence of symptoms.
An increase in the number of new cases was expected from this week due to Kerala’s policy of keeping everyone coming via Vande Bharat in institutional quarantine, and then subjecting them to an RT-PCR Coronavirus test on the seventh day.
These tests started on Tuesday, and the first results started coming in on Wednesday.
In addition, the state also started receiving a large number of people from COVID-19 hotspots like Gujarat, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu.
KARNATAKA
Another state that reported a record number of new cases today is Karnataka.
The state, which had 1,100 active cases as of yesterday, reported 196 new cases today. The previous record was set five days ago, when Karnataka reported 149 new cases.
Delhi reported 591 new cases, a day after it reported a record 660 new cases on Friday.
Commenting on the rising numbers, Kerala Electricity Minister AK Balan said this disease cannot be beaten via government rules and regulations alone.
“It can be beaten if and only if people coming from outside and those near them strictly observe the isolation rules. This cannot be overcome by government crackdown.
“If people are not willing to observe these rules, then the only result will be that everyone will catch this virus,” he said.