Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 26 (IANS): The number of new Covid cases in Kerala continued to rise with 2476 testing positive on Wednesday, said State Health Minister K.K. Shailaja.

This is by far the highest daily number of positive cases in the state.

In a statement issued here, Shailaja said that at present there are 22,344 positive cases, while 41,694 people have recovered.

On Wednesday 1351 people were cured , while 40,352 samples was tested.

"Of the 2476 new cases, 2243 were local infectees, and Thiruvananthapuram district had the highest number of cases with 461, of which 445 were local infectees," said Shailaja.

In the state there are 1,89,781 people under observation at various places and include 17,646 in hospitals.

The state has 604 hot spots.

According to authorities, with the harvest festival of Onam beginning and restrictions being eased with markets and shops opening, the number of cases will reach a peak in the second week of September.

Wednesday also saw statewide protests breaking out with the Congress and the BJP workers taking to the streets, violating all Covid guidelines, demanding the resignation of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan over the manner in which a fire broke out in the state Secretariat on Tuesday evening.

Shailaja warned that under no circumstances should Covid protocols be violated, as it would create a lot of problems in tackling the pandemic.