Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 2 (IANS): Kerala, following the spike in the test positivity rate in the past few weeks, continued to see the number of Covid deaths stay high and on Wednesday, the fatalities crossed the 200 mark to touch 213, taking the total death toll in the state to 9,222.

The high toll also figured in the state Assembly, where there were angry exchanges between the treasury and the opposition benches after the latter raised the issue of the manner in which Covid deaths are being "under reported".

Senior IUML legislator M.K. Muneer raised the point while seeking leave for an adjournment motion.

"What is surprising is it is a medical audit committee at the end of the day which decides if a particular person dies of Covid should be included under Covid deaths. The medical rules are very clear that it should be the treating doctor who should state the cause of death and not the committee, which is sitting elsewhere. This issue has also been raised by the medical professionals also," he said.

Health Minister Veena George however, hit back, saying the only rule that is being followed are the guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research, and slammed the Opposition by asking them if this is the total cooperation in tackling Covid as promised by them.

"You (the opposition) are trying to belittle the very hardworking health professionals by this slander and it should be withdrawn," she said.

Meanwhile, a statement issued by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that on Wednesday, 19,661 people turned Covid positive after 1,28,525 samples was tested in the past 24 hours leaving the TPR at 15.3 per cent, which, at one point of time in the past few weeks, had climbed to 30 per cent.

The day also saw 29,708 people turned negative, taking the total cured to 23,64,210 and for the first time in several weeks, the total number of active cases came down to below 2 lakh to 1,92,165.

Across the state, there were 7,42,157 people under observation at various places, including 36,782 in hospitals.