Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 17 (IANS): Kerala on Monday recorded a high of 22,946 new Covid cases from 69,373 samples tested, to send the test positivity rate to 33.07 per cent, state Health Minister Veena George said in a statement.

There were 18 Covid deaths taking the death toll to 50,904.

On Mondays the number of new cases and also the TPR often used to be the lowest because generally the number of samples sent for testing on Sunday is very low, but the latest figures proved otherwise.

With the new cases, the total number of active cases in the state reached 1,21,458.

The state capital district saw 5,863 positive cases, a recent daily high.

Meanwhile, 5,280 people turned negative.

On the vaccination front, 99.7 per cent of the population (2.66 crore) have taken the first dose of which 82 per cent (2.20 crore) have taken both the doses.

With Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan now in the US for medical attention and no one given any official charge, on Monday, Local Self Government Minister M.V. Govindan and George held a meeting to evaluate the situation.

The meeting decided to beef up the ward level committee, which was doing yeomen service in 2020 when the pandemic first struck and also decided to strengthen the volunteer force by including the 'Kudumbhasree' movement (the Women poverty eradication programme).

The disaster management authority has decided to see that Covid First Line Treatment centres are opened and considered taking over closed-down hostels to be converted into isolation and quarantine centres, if needed.