Thiruvananthapuram, May 17 (IANS): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said that there are signs that lockdown is improving the situation and experts predict that the peak is over, but this should not be reason for slackening of Covid protocols.

"On Monday, the test positivity rate (TPR) stands at 24.74 per cent and the day also saw a record 99,651 people turning negative, taking the total cured in the state to 18,00,179. In comparison from the commencement of lockdown which began on May 8, when the number of active cases stood at 4.45 lakh, the number has now come down to 3.62 lakh," he said.

Incidentally, the TPR, which had gone up as high as 30 per cent last week, has fallen to 24.74, after 21,402 people turned positive on Monday from 86,505 samples tested in the past 24 hours.

"The triple lockdown in four districts that started yesterday (Sunday) midnight and the continuation of the general lockdown in the other (10) districts appears to have been accepted well by the people. We have no other option because there is no other way to contain the spread. People should continue to cooperate in this," Vijayan said.

The state has been under lockdown since May 8 and as per the present scheme of things, the restrictions will remain till May 23.

The day also saw 87 deaths, taking the total Covid death toll to 6,515.

Across the state there were 10,19,085 people under observation at various places in the state which included 37,715 in hospitals. There were 853 hotspots.