Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Thursday that two more persons have tested positive for novel coronavirus in the state, taking the total number of people presently undergoing treatment to 111.
With wearing of mask becoming compulsory from Thursday, for the first time the Chief Minister was seen covering his face with a towel when he arrived for the press meet.
In total, Kerala has reported 497 Covid-19 cases so far.
"A total of 20,285 people are under observation at their homes while 426 others have been kept under observation at different hospitals across the state," Vijayan said.
Six districts Kannur, Kozhikode, Kasargode, Malappuram, Kottayam and Idukki are in the red zone. All the remaining eight districts are under orange zone.
"On Thursday, 954 cases were registered against those who were found not wearing masks, which has been made compulsory. In Kasargode, district collector Sajith Babu and two IG of police, Asok Yadav and Vijay Sakhare, are under isolation. There are 70 hot spots in the state. Kannur presently have the highest number of positive cases at 47," Vijayan said.
"The decision to send migrant labourers to their homes by bus has come from the Centre. But sending them by bus is not practical. We have requested the Centre to allow special non-stop trains to send them home. There are 3.60 lakh migrant labourers in our state, mostly from Bengal, Assam Odisha, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh," the Chief Minister added.
( With inputs from IANS )