THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The COVID-19 situation in the state worsened with the addition of over 10,000 new patients on Friday, with the test positivity rate reaching just below 15 per cent. The number of active patients also increased to 69,868.
Two districts -- Kozhikode and Ernakulam -- were the worst affected after reporting over 1000 patients on consecutive days.
Most of the patients received the infection through local contacts. There were 21 deaths reported on the day, taking the total toll to 4877. As many as 3792 recovered from the illness. There were 436 hotspots in the state.
In view of the high rate of spread in the state, the health department has started a massive campaign to conduct 2.5 lakh tests in two days. Mega camps were set up with the support of various NGOs to increase the test numbers.
Despite the demand for more tests, there were only 67,775 tests in the previous 24 hours. The vaccination campaign has also been affected due to the shortage of COVID-19 vaccine in the state.