For the second successive day, Kerala reported over 4,000 COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking the total infection count to 1,26,381 while the toll crossed the 500 mark.
At least 102 health workers were among the 4,167 new positive cases and 12 more people succumbed to the disease as the toll climbed to 501, Health Minister K K Shailaja said.
On Thursday, the state had recorded its single-day highest of 4,351 cases as fresh cases crossed the 4,000 mark for the first time.
State capital Thiruvananthapuram reported the highest ever single day spike on Friday with 926 cases followed by Kozhikode (404) and Kollam (355).
As many as 48 of the new patients came from abroad, 165 from other states while 3,849 contracted the disease through their contacts, she said in a release here.
A total of 2,744 patients were discharged as 35,724 people remained under treatment.
Till now, 90,089 people have been cured in the state, the Minister said.
Among the other districts which clocked fresh cases in three digits, Ernakulam logged 348, Kannur 330, Thrissur 326, Malappuram 297, Alappuzha 274, Palakkad 268 and Kottayam 225.
At least 2,16,262 people were under observation in the state with 24,634 of them in isolation wards of various hospitals.
Eighteen places were added to the list of hotspots, taking the total to 614.
Currently, Thiruvananthapuram has 6,464 COVID-19 cases, the highest in the state followed by Kozhikode (3,633), Ernakulam (3,410) and Malappuram with 3,245 positive cases while the rest were scattered in other districts.
