THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: After remaining free of any positive cases for a month, Wayanad reported a lone COVID-19 case on Saturday, following which the district was shifted from the green to the orange zone, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said.
The other positive case in the state was from Kannur, which has the highest number of cases at present.
With the fresh cases,the tally in the state stood at 499. No positive cases were detected in the state on Friday.
"There are only two positive cases in the state today. But one is from Wayanad where since the past one month no positive cases have been reported. So Wayanad has been removed from the green to the orange zone," Vijayan told reporters here.
Samples of 8 people-- six from Kannur and two from Idukki have returned negative.
There are 80 hotspots, including 23 in Kannur, 11 each in Idukki and Kottayam.
Alappuzha and Thrissur have been brought under green zone as no new positive cases have been reported for the past 21 days, while Kannur and Kottayam will continue in the red zone.
Vijayan made it clear that liquor shops, malls, beauty parlours and barber shops will continue to remain shut in the state.
Green zone stands for districtswith zero confirmed cases till date or districts with no confirmed cases in the last 21 days,while red zone comprises districts popularly known as hotspots and is based on number of active cases.
Orange zone comprises districts falling neither under the green or red zone category.