The positivity rate in Kerala has jumped to 17.04 per cent (Representational)
Kerala on Saturday registered a record high in daily cases with 13,835 new COVID-19 cases. On Friday, Kerala crossed the 10,000 daily cases mark. The Test Positivity Rate (TPR) for the state has jumped to 17.04% in comparison to a 12.53% earlier this week.
The daily case count is expected to rise further, according to officials, as a two-day mass testing drive has been launched across the state, that ended on Saturday.
On Friday as part of mass testing 1,35,159 samples were collected from across the state, of which 81,211 samples were tested. The results for the other samples are expected in days to come.
Kerala has been registering a spike in cases since the voting for Assembly elections got over almost a fortnight ago. On the ground, according to sources, the state's resources are not overburdened for now.
Kerala has vaccinated around 13.78% of its population, however, there are reports of shortage of vaccines at several centres and restrictions on the dosages, even as the queue of beneficiaries has been growing longer.
"My wife and I had registered for the vaccination and we were given the 1 pm to 3 pm slot. But after arriving at the venue, we were told that the vaccine doses are over. Now, we are returning. Why did they register us if they don't have doses?", Binu Kumar had told NDTV on Friday.
Kerala Health Minister KK Shailaja today reiterated the state's demand for 50 lakh vaccine doses.
"For the priority groups to be vaccinated, we need 50 lakhs doses of vaccine. And we repeatedly asked the central government for the same and hope they will supply it. Otherwise we have to stop the vaccination centers and the process will not be successful", KK Shailaja told news agency ANI, and also mentioned that the state for now was not short on oxygen or other essential supplies.