Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 10 (IANS): Kerala saw 25,010 people turn Covid positive on Friday after 1,51,317 samples were tested in the past 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 16.53 per cent, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Friday.

Addressing the media here, he said by the end of this month, all people above the age of 18 in the state will get one dose of vaccine and as on date, 78 per cent people have been administered the first dose while 30 per cent have been given both doses.

"Even though the numbers of Covid positive cases are high, there need be no reason to be worried. The need of the hour is each and every one should get vaccinated as the only way to fight Covid is by taking vaccine jabs," Vijayan said.

"We are now in contact with experts and it is now time to see that we reopen educational institutions and a decision will be taken after detailed talks," he added.

Steps would be taken to see vaccination is done in colleges, he said.

Vijayan also noted even though the Covid numbers were high, there was a sharp drop in the number of people reaching hospitals.

"Covid deaths was also reported, but it was found out that many who died failed to take vaccination and those who took the vaccine jabs had two or more other ailments," he said.

The day saw 23,535 people turning negative taking the total active cases to 2,37,643, of which only 12.9 per cent are admitted in hospitals.

There were 177 Covid deaths taking the death toll to 22,303.

Vijayan said from now on, only those who have not taken the vaccine dose and have symptoms should mandatorily take RT-PCR tests and antigen tests will be done only for emergency needs.

All those youths who are positive and undergoing home quarantine should get their blood sugar tested, he advised.