Kerala on Tuesday reported 23,676 fresh covid-19 cases .

Kerala on Tuesday reported 23,676 fresh Covid-19 cases, pushing the total infection count to 34.49 lakh. With 148 more deaths, the toll due to the infection in the state rose to 17,103. The state government said that the test positivity rate (TPR) is at 11.87 per cent now. A day earlier, the state had reported 13,984 cases after recording more than 20,000 cases for six consecutive days. But the number of fresh cases rose sharply once again on Tuesday.

Some of the worst affected districts in the state are Malappuram with 4276 infections, Thrissur 2908, Ernakulam 2702, Kozhikode 2416, Palakkad 2223, Kollam 1836, Alappuzha 1261, Kottayam 1241, Kannur 1180 and Trivandrum 1133. Earlier in the day, the Union Health Ministry said that out of the total cases reported in the country in the last week, 49.85 per cent were reported from Kerala. It also said that Kerala was one of the eight states where reproductive number, an indicator of how fast the Covid-19 pandemic is spreading, is more than 1.

An R-value above 1 means more than one person is being infected, on an average, by an already-infected person, and that leads to a surge in cases.

“There are 18 districts, including 10 districts of Kerala where an increasing trend in cases is seen,” Lav Agarwal, Joint Secretary, Union Health Ministry, said during the briefing.