THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala confirmed 488 fresh cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, CM Pinarayi Vijayan said. This is the highest single-day spike of COVID cases in Kerala. Of the new cases, 234 persons developed the disease through contact. Among the new cases, 167 returned from abroad and 76 came from other states. 2 health workers, 2 ITBP, 4 DSC and 2 BSF personnel also tested positive for the virus on Saturday.

District wise breakup of COVID-19 positive cases:

Alappuzha- 87, Thiruvananthapuram- 69, Pathanamthitta- 54, Malappuram- 51, Palakkad-48, Ernakulam-47, Thrissur-29, Kannur-19, Kasargod- 18, Kollam- 18, Kozhikode- 17, Kottayam- 15, Wayanad- 11, Idukki-5.

The Chief Minister also took the opportunity to express condolences on the death of two persons who died of COVID-19 on Saturday.

Meanwhile, 143 patients tested negative for the virus on Saturday. With 16 more regions identified as hotspots on Saturday, the state has 195 hotspots in total.