Thiruvananthapuram:
COVID-19 cases in Kerala continued its downward trend, with the state on Friday logging 22,318 infections, taking the caseload to 24.40 lakh, while 194 deaths pushed the toll to 8,257.
Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 26,270 patients testing negative, taking the total to 22,24,405.
A total of 1,36,068 samples were tested in the past 24 hours, taking the caseload to 24,40,847 and the test positivity rate to 16.4 per cent, a health department bulletin said.
Active cases stood at 2,37,819.
Malappuram recorded the highest number of 3,938 cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 2545 and Kollam 2368, a health department release said.
Of the new cases, 94 were health workers, 164 from outside the state and 20,885 were infected through contacts, it said.
A total of 8,57,227 people are under observation in various districts, including 39,110 in various hospitals.
