Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5 (IANS): There seems to be no respite from Covid in Kerala as the daily test positivity rate (TPR) jumped to 13.49 per cent on Thursday, against 11.37 per cent a day earlier.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in a statement, said that 22,040 people turned positive after 1,63,376 samples were tested in the past 24 hours.
The state now has 1,77,924 active cases after 20,046 people more turned negative.
There were another 117 Covid deaths, taking the death toll to 17,328.
Malappuram district continues to lead in the daily number of positive cases after 3,645.
This increased figure comes, as from Thursday morning, the state saw a relaxation in the Covid guidelines with all shops opening in areas where triple lock down is not in force.
One reason for the relaxation in norms is on account of upcoming Onam festival season.