Kerala records 20,772 fresh COVID cases, state health minister says 'situation under control'

The state's test positivity rate (TPR) jumped to 13.61 per cent with the total caseload touching 33,70,137.

A total 116 people died of the disease during this period while total fatalities hit 16,701, according to a government release.

In the past 24 hours, 1,52,639 samples were tested and the test positivity rate stood at 13.61 per cent.

There are 678 areas in the state with a TPR of above 10 per cent, the release said.

Kerala Health Minister Veena George on Friday said the situation in Kerala is absolutely under control.

"The situation in Kerala is absolutely under control. How do you anaylse this? Look at the data on occupancy in hospitals. It is less for hospitals, for ICU beds, and even in demand for oxygen support. It means the severity of the disease is less," George told NDTV in an exclusive interview.

"A Central team visited Kerala a couple of weeks ago. They visited many places, they visited hospitals, they went to many districts. They communicated to us that they are satisfied with the measures the government is adopting. They told us that plateau-formation in this phase is quite expected," she told the channel.