Thiruvananthapuram, May 24 (IANS): With 53 new Covid-19 positive cases registered on Sunday and 62 on Saturday, Kerala saw a surge of over 100 positive cases in the past two days, the highest registered so far, but termed it "expected", attributing it to the returnees.

Out of these cases, 18 were among those who returned from abroad and 29 from those coming back from various states of the country.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a Facebook post, said that as on date, the state has 322 active cases, while 520 have been cured of the disease.

With more cases being reported from across the state, the number of hot spots shot up from 37 to 55 on Sunday.

State Health Minister K.K.Shailaja, however, said that the rise was expected with more and more people coming back from abroad and within the country.

"All what one needs to do is to ensure that all those who are in isolation/quarantine stay indoors.... if not, things will be more complicated. We managed the first two phases and the third phase is currently on and each and everyone has to ensure that they do not do anything which is not in tune with the directives of the health authorities," she said.

Out of around six lakh people - 4 lakh from abroad and 2 lakh from within the country - registered to return to Kerala since travel was permitted, so far 93,404 people have come, including 9,400 by air and sea and the rest by train and road.

Currently, 94,662 people are under observation in homes, while 732 are in hospitals.

On Tuesday, there are more challenges surfacing as the postponed Class 10 and 12 examinations begin with a record 1.3 million students having to come out of their homes and head to various schools in the state for them.