Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR), which went up 30 percent, has now fallen below 20 percent, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Wednesday.

"The one thing is that now every day, there are more recoveries than new cases. This shows that the effect of lockdown, which is presently on, is showing its positive impact," Chief Minister said adding that all have to continue to exercise utmost caution as things have not yet come to a level where we can breathe easy.

Vijayan said the decision was taken by the cabinet that for the next 12 months, every state minister will set aside Rs 10,000 every month towards the Chief Minister's Relief Fund. "We have asked the various Malayali organisations abroad to see if they can source the medicines that are given for treating black fungus from the manufacturers and the state Medical Service Corporation will make the arrangements for them to be brought here," he added.

He said that the day saw 28,798 people turn Covid positive after 1,44,372 samples were tested in the past 24 hours. "As many as 35,525 people turned negative, taking the total cured in the state to 21,67,596, while 2,48,526 people were presently positive." On Wednesday, 151 Covid deaths were reported, taking the death toll to 7,882.

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