Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 23 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday compared Covid to a forest fire, stressing on maintaining vigilance to prevent the disease's spread.

"Covid is like a forest fire. Just like a forest fire... when it seems to have ended, it suddenly comes back with greater force. Covid is like that and hence there should be no relaxation of caution," he said.

"It has also come to notice people are having an attitude that 'let Covid strike', but that's dangerous because post-Covid complications cannot be ruled out. One percent of Covid patients seem to have the post-Covid syndrome. Even after testing negative, 10 days quarantine should be undertaken," Vijayan added.

His comments came as the state recorded 7,482 more coronavirus cases, while 7,593 patients tested negative.

The Chief Minister said that the state has 93,291 active cases, while 2,74,675 people have so far been cured. Meanwhile, there were 23 more deaths, taking the toll to 1,255.

He said that in the past 24 hours, 56,093 samples were tested, and it had been decided that the number of daily tests is increased.

Kerala has 2,80,926 people under observation, including 23,193 people in hospitals, while there are 618 hotspots.