Kerala logs 4,905 fresh coronavirus cases, 25 fatalities

The Minister noted that 46,116 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 10.64 percent.

PTI

December 27, 2020 / 09:25 PM IST

Kerala registered 4,905 new COVID-19 cases and 25 related deaths on Sunday, taking the total number of those affected in the state to 7.40 lakh. Health Minister K K Shailaja said out of the total positive cases, 4,307 were of local transmission and the contact source of infection for 471 was not traceable.

"There are 44 healthcare workers among those infected. At the same time, 3,463 patients have recovered from the disease. Of those diagnosed with the disease, 83 have travelled to the state from outside," the Minister said in a release.

The Minister noted that 46,116 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate was 10.64 percent. A total of 76.95 lakh samples have so far been sent for testing. The district-wise figures for those who tested positive today for coronavirus are Ernakulam 605, Kozhikode 579, Malappuram 517, Kottayam 509, Kollam 501, Thiruvananthapuram 322, Kannur 289 and others.

"Currently, there are 65,169 patients diagnosed with the disease and still undergoing treatment while a total of 6.72 lakh have so far recovered from COVID-19 in the State," the release said. There are currently 2,56,614 people under observation in the state while 13,149 in isolation wards of various hospitals.

Seven new places were demarcated as new hotspots today while four areas were excluded.

COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

How many types of vaccines are there?

There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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