Thiruvananthapuram: With toll mounting to 1281, the active COVID-19 cases in Kerala inched toward the one lakh mark as the daily positive count continued to soar with 8,511 fresh cases on Friday. As many as 95,657 people were presently undergoing treatment for the infection while the total infection count stood at 3,64,895, the government said. The new cases were detected after testing 64,789 samples and included 82 health workers, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.

A total of 6,118 people were recovered from  the disease, taking the cumulative recoveries in the state so far to 2,80,793, the Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a release. Two districts accounted for over 1,000 fresh cases with Malappuram recording 1,375, the highest in the state, followed by Thrissur (1,020). Thiruvananthapuram reported 890 cases, Ernakulam 874 and Kozhikode 751 cases. Twenty six COVID-19 deaths in the past few days were confirmed, pushing the toll to 1,281. Two of the deceased were over 90 years of age. Of the positive cases on Friday, a total of 148 had come from outside the state and 7,269 were infected through contact.

At least 2,80,184 people are under observation in various districts, including 22,780 in hospitals. So far, 42,12,611 samples have been sent for testing. While 12 new areas got into the list of hotspots, 14 were removed.

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