Kerala recorded 22,129 COVID-19 cases on Tuesday, pushing the total cases reported from the state to 33,05,245.
As many as 13,415 people were cured of the infection, taking the total recoveries to 31,43,043.
The active cases touched 1,45,371, Health Minister Veena George said in a press release. The caseload remained above one lakh for the past 27 days.
In the last 24 hours, 1,79,130 samples were tested and the test positivity rate was 12.35 per cent.
So far, 2,65,36,792 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.
With 156 deaths being reported on Tuesday, the state's death toll has risen to 16,326.
Of the positive cases, 116 were health workers, while 124 had come from outside the state and 20,914 infected through contact. The source of infection of 975 among them is unknown.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, on Tuesday, said Kerala is one of the states which had implemented vaccination drive in the most effective manner but admitted that it was facing challenges in fighting the pandemic due to acute shortage of vaccines.
The CM also said the state would approach the Centre demanding more doses of vaccine.Â
