Kerala records 19,325 new COVID-19 cases, 143 deaths in 24 hours

The Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan informed that 19,325 people turned COVID-19 positive after 1,21,070 samples were sent for testing in the past 24 hours on Saturday evening (September 18). The state's positivity rate was recorded at 15.96 per cent.

However, compared to earlier reports of the coronavirus, Saturday's figures have shown a decline in figures even though Kerala still continues to have the maximum daily cases in the country.

CM Vijayan said that around 27,266 people turned negative and the total active cases stand at 1,80,842 of which 13.2 per cent of the patients are in various hospitals. There were 143 COVID-19 deaths recorded taking the total death tally in the state to 23,439.

As of now, approximately 88.94 per cent of Kerala's population have been administered with one dose of the coronavirus vaccine to those above the age of 45 out of which 36.67 per cent have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Notably, Karnataka recently relaxed restrictions in districts located near the Kerala border since the cases have seen a decline. Apart from this, Maharashtra has been recording a high number of COVID-19 cases with the onset of the third wave in the state.