Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 11 (IANS): The Kerala health department on Sunday that it has detected 11 Covid-19 variants in the state.

The department in a statement on Sunday said that the Omicron variant was confirmed in 6,728 samples collected after December 2021.

The new XE, XH, HQ, and Omicron BA.5 variants were also confirmed in the state, the health department said, adding that seven samples were found to have the XE variant and eight had the HQ strain.

Besides Omicron, the other dominant variants currently present in Kerala are Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and Omicron.

The state witnessed a decline in fresh Covid-19 cases in February after the third wave in January.

By March, the single-day tally further dipped to 1,000 and this trend continued till the second week of May.

However, Kerala is now seeing a steady increase of new cases, with the daily tally above 3,000.

Despite the latest developments, the health department has assured that the situation is under control as most of the people in the state are vaccinated against the virus and the variants are not deadly.

The department however urged people to maintain Covid-19 protocols, including wearing of masks, social distancing, and proper and regular sanitizing of hands.

Since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020, Kerala has so far reported 66.66 lakh cases and the death toll stands at 70,122.

Currently, 28,022 people are receiving treatment against the disease.

Following heavy monsoon rain, fever cases are also on the rise.

Besides the regular influenza-related cold and fever, several other forms like scrub typhus fever, rat fever, and tomato fever have also been reported.

Twenty-five people have died of rat fever in the state, while 28 other lost their lives due to dengue.