Kerala sees massive surge in COVID-19 infections, logs over 46k cases in a day

Kerala on Thursday reported 46,387 fresh cases of COVID-19. The state also registered 15,388 recoveries and 32 deaths in the past 24 hours. 309 deaths were added to the COVID-19 death list as per the guidelines of the Centre. The total death toll now stands at 51,501, according to the state government. 

Kerala reported 62 more cases of Omicron variant of COVID-19 today, taking the case tally to 707.

Kerala has been experiencing a massive surge in COVID-19 cases over the past few days. The state had reported 34,199 fresh positive cases on Wednesday and 28,481 cases on Tuesday.

The state on Wednesday had also reported 54 Omicron cases. Till, Wednesday, the state's Omicron tally stood at 645, as per the State Health Department. 

"Out of those infected today, 33 were from low-risk nations and six from high-risk countries. Five people reached the State from other States; and 10 contracted the disease through their contacts," the department said in a press release.

Of these, 12 people are from Ernakulam district, 10 from Kozhikode, seven from Malappuram, six from Thrissur, five from Kottayam, three each from Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad and two each from Kollam and Alappuzha districts, said the Health Department.

Meanwhile, India logged 3,17,532 new coronavirus infections, the highest in 249 days, on Thursday. The total COVID-19 tally now stands at 3,82,18,773 according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. This number includes 9,287 cases of the Omicron variant.

The active cases rose to 19,24,051, the highest in 234 days, while the death toll climbed to 4,87,693 with 491 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

There has been a 3.63 per cent increase in Omicron cases since Wednesday, the ministry said.

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