22,414 cases: Highest single day in Kerala

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala reported the highest single day surge of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 22,414 infections, including 105 health workers, while the toll touched 5,000 with the addition of 22 deaths.

The previous high was on April 20 with 19,577 cases.

The health department quoted Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan as saying that 22 more deaths had taken the toll in the state to 5,000.

This is the highest single day surge reported from Kerala since the outbreak of the virus, according to government sources. The country's first Coronavirus case was reported from the state when a medical student from Wuhan in China's Hubei province, tested positive on her return on January 30, 2020 to Kerala.

Two other students from Wuhan also subsequently tested positive. All the three had later recovered.

The health department said that as part of a mass testing campaign which began on Friday, a total of 3,00,971 samples were collected, including the 1,21,763 in the last 24 hours.

"A total of 1,45,93,000 samples have been tested till now," the health department said in a release.