COVID-19: Kerala records 20,728 fresh infections, 56 deaths

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], August 1 : Despite the imposition of a complete weekend lockdown, Kerala recorded 20,728 fresh COVID-19 infections on Sunday.
This is almost 50 per cent (41,831) of the total COVID-19 cases recorded in India in a 24-hour period, according to the Union Health Ministry's data released in the morning today.
56 more deaths pushed the overall fatalities to 16,837. With 17,792 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the cumulative recoveries in the state stand at 32,26,761.
At present, there are 1,67,379 active cases in Kerala. A test positivity rate of 12.14 per cent was recorded out of 1,70,690 samples tested in the last 24 hours.
The Kerala government on Thursday had announced a complete lockdown amid the spike of COVID-19 cases for July 31 and August 1.
While the Covid situation in the entire country has started improving, the numbers of daily cases recorded in Kerala are a matter of concern. The Centre government sent a team of six members headed by Dr S K Singh, Director, National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). The team has been sent to collaborate with the State Health Authorities in instituting effective public health measures for COVID-19 management.