Thiruvananthapuram, September 5: On expected lines, the number of Covid positive cases in Kerala continues to surge and on Saturday it saw the highest number of 2,655 people turning positive. Speaking to the media, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on account of Onam relaxation in rules, this was expected "but if compared to the basic indicators of spread with other states, we have done well to keep such indicators below the national average." COVID-19: Auto Rickshaw Owner Uses His Vehicles as Cart to Sell Vegetables in Kerala.

"The tests per million reveals Kerala is doing well, when the national average is 2,731, Kerala's figure is 2,168 while in other neighbouring states like Andhra Pradesh it stands at 8,479, while in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu it's above 5,000," said Vijayan. He said of the new cases, 2,433 were local infectees and a cause for worry is while the spread in the capital district coastal hamlets has come down, it's not so in the city. At present, there are 21,800 active Covid cases in the state. Kerala’s First Open University Named After Sree Narayana Guru to Be Set Up on Gandhi Jayanthi.

"Kerala leads in the number of tests conducted and we strictly follow the WHO guidelines. We have a figure where one positive case is there when 22 people are tested, while in Tamil Nadu it's 11 and this is worked out by tests per million/case per million. In the past 24 hours, 40,168 samples were sent for testing," said Vijayan. 11 deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 337.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 05, 2020 07:48 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).