Thiruvananthapuram, Apr 18 (IANS):Kerala Health Minister K.K. Shailaja on Saturday said that four new coronavirus positive cases were reported in the state, taking the total number of active cases under treatment to 140.

In all, the affected and cured cases total 399 in Kerala.

"There are 66,686 people under observation at homes and 504 at various hospitals in the state," said Shailaja.

Based on the performance of 14 districts on how these tackled Covid-19, four zones have been announced, that would come into effect from April 20.

While Kottayam and Idukki will get the maximum relaxation, subject to all the national guidelines, the other 12 districts will get scaled-down relaxations.

Earlier in the day, Shailaja said that the state is reaping the rewards of the hard work that has gone into overall containment of the spread of Covid-19.

She told the media that in no way can the Kerala government relax because "things can go haywire anytime, if we are not alert. But at the same time, life has to go on. If not there will be other issues.

"It should not be like 'we saved people from Covid, but people die out of hunger'. So whatever relaxations are now announced to be effective from April 20 should not be an occasion to forget the alertness that we have maintained. Instead, the relaxation should be used to revive the state economy and it should happen by keeping all the rules and regulations of maintaining social distancing," said Shailaja.