Thiruvananthapuram, May 29(BPNS)

Kerala Government on Saturday announced one more week of Lockdown till June 9 to contain the spread of Covid-19.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan while addressing media persons said that with the Covid -19 pandemic still not under control, the state is extending the shutdown till June 9.

The Chief minister also announced the withdrawal of triple lockdown in Malappuram district of Kerala as cases were coming down in the district.

The state on Saturday reported 23,513 fresh Covid-19 cases taking the total  cases to 24,64,360.

The death toll on Saturday touched 198 taking the total number of people died of Covid -19 to 8455.

However there was a silver lining with the number of recoveries outnumbering the number of fresh cases as 28,100 patients tested negative on Saturday. Those tested negative in the state till Saturday stood at 22,52,505. Number of active cases in the state is 2,33,034.

Of the new cases 86 were health workers, 139 from outside the state 22,016 were infected through contacts. A total of 8,35,866 people are under observation in various places of Kerala and 39,466 are in hospitals.