Thiruvananthapuram Jan 25 PTI Kerala reported 55475 new COVID-19 cases on Tuesday the highest ever reported from the state in a single day since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 taking the total affected to 5725086 On Monday Kerala recorded 26514 fresh cases while the previous highest ever in a single day was recorded on January 20- 46387 cases The state Health department said 112281 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the COVID-19 dashboard in the website of the Kerala government shows the test positivity rate above 44 per cent There are 442466 people under observation in the state out of which 10342 are in isolation wards of various hospitals the Health department said in a release Currently there are 285365 active COVID-19 cases in the state out of which only 38 per cent are hospitalised the release said The State registered 154 COVID-19-related deaths on Tuesday taking the death toll to 52141 Among the latest fatalities 70 were recorded over the last few days while 84 were designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court Among the districts Ernakulam reported the highest number of cases on Tuesday--9405 followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 8606 and Thrissur with 5520 cases Out of those who were found infected today 139 reached the state from outside while 51547 contracted the disease from their contacts The sources of infection of 3373 patients are yet to be ascertained 506 health workers are also among the infected the release said Meanwhile 30226 people recovered from the disease on Tuesday taking the total recoveries in the state to 5386868 PTI RRT RRT SS SS

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 23 PTI The one-day lockdown to mitigate the rapid spread of the third wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Kerala began on Sunday with only emergency services being operated in the state A high-level COVID review meeting had on Thursday decided that only essential services should be allowed on the two Sundays --January 23 and 30 Shops selling essential items such as milk newspaper fish meat fruits and vegetables and provisions are allowed to function from 7 AM to 9 PM Most of the private vehicles kept away from the road except for those who were traveling for emergency purposes and that too after providing necessary documents proving the nature of emergency to the police Those who are traveling to airports or already booked tourist destinations can travel after showing necessary documents including tickets to the police officers who are engaged in vehicle checking across the state Only parcel services are allowed at hotels and medical stores media houses and telecom-Internet services are allowed to function despite curbs Kerala had on Saturday reported 45136 new positive cases taking the total affected in the state to 5574702 The state had on Thursday logged 46387 cases the highest single day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in 2020 PTI RRT RRT SS SS

Kochi Jan 23 PTI Actor Dileep on Sunday reached the Crime Branch office here as directed by the Kerala High Court for interrogation in a case registered against him and five others for allegedly threatening officials probing the sexual assault of an actress in 2017 The High Court had on Saturday granted interim protection to Dileep from arrest but directed him and other accused to appear before the investigating officers on January 23 24 and 25 for interrogation Dileep who reached the crime branch office at around 850 AM refused to interact with the media The other accused have also reached the probe agencys office for questioning Meanwhile Crime Branch sources said the interrogation of the accused will be recorded as they suspect that the actor and others might approach the court alleging harassment during questioning Justice Gopinath P had directed the accused to fully cooperate with the investigation and directed them to be available for interrogation from 9 AM to 8 PM on the three days The court had also warned the accused that in case of non-cooperation the interim protection from arrest will be lifted and custody will granted to the Crime Branch The court also directed the public prosecutor to submit a report on the interrogation and material evidence in a sealed cover on January 27 when the matter would be heard again Besides Dileep his younger brother P Sivakumar and brother-in-law T N Suraj among others were asked to present themselves for interrogation The Crime Branch had on January 9 registered the case on a complaint filed by an investigating officer based on a purported audio clip of Dileep which was released by a TV channel in which the actor was allegedly heard conspiring to attack the official The actor and five others were booked under various provisions of the IPC including Sections 116 abetment 118 concealing design to commit offence 120B criminal conspiracy 506 criminal intimidation and 34 criminal act done by several people Dileep has claimed that this apprehension was borne out of the past conduct of the complainant officer who has been trying to falsely implicate him in the sexual assault case The actress who has worked in Tamil Telugu and Malayalam films was abducted and allegedly molested in her car for two hours by some of the accused who had forced their way into the vehicle on the night of February 17 2017 and later escaped in a busy area The entire act was filmed by some of the accused to blackmail the actress There are 10 accused in the case and initially police arrested seven people Dileep was arrested subsequently and released on bail later PTI RRT RRT SS SS

Thiruvananthapuram Jan 18 PTI COVID-19 infections in Kerala on Tuesday witnessed a steep rise as the state reported 28481 new positive cases taking the infection count to 5407312 Kerala had reported 22946 cases on Monday State Health Minister Veena George said the state had tested 80740 samples in the last 24 hours and there are over 142 lakh active COVID-19 cases in the state On Tuesday Kerala reported 122 deaths taking the toll in the state to 51026 Among todays fatalities 39 were recorded over the last few days and 83 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court Currently there are 142512 active COVID-19 cases in the state out of which only 34 per cent are admitted to hospitals the Health department said in a release Among the districts Thiruvananthapuram reported 6911 cases followed by Ernakulam with 4013 and Kozhikode with 2967 Out of those found infected today 165 reached the state from outside while 27522 contracted the disease from their contacts The sources of infection of 579 are yet to be traced As many as 215 health workers are also among the infected Meanwhile 7303 people recovered from the infection on Tuesday taking the total cured in the state to 5236013 The minister also informed that 998 per cent 26657881 of the targeted population has been administered with the first dose of vaccine while 83 per cent 22061640 have received both the doses PTI RRT RRT SS SS

Kochi Dec 21 PTI Al Ameen College here in collaboration with the Kochi branch of Indian Medical Association IMA has launched Cup of Life a project to promote usage of menstrual cup instead of sanitary napkins IMA Kochi President Dr Maria Varghese inaugurated the event held at the college at Edathala here in collaboration with the National Service Scheme NSS unit and the womens cell As part of this campaign the menstrual cup which costs Rs 300 was made available to all college girls and teachers for Rs 100 the college authorities said in a release Dr Aaavani gynaecologist at Amrita Hospital gave the awareness class for students and teachers of the college IMA Secretary Dr Anitha Thilakan and National Health Mission officials Dr Akhil Xavier Manuel and others led classes on a variety of subjects Doctors spoke on menstrual hygiene and the use of the menstrual cup and how its use can make menstrual days like any other normal day PTI RRT RRT SS SS