THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has reported the country’s highest Covid-19 recovery rate of 84% on the basis of how the first 25 patients who tested positive between March 9 and 20 responded to treatment. Overall, the recovery rate is 17% among 314 confirmed cases since January 30, when the first Wuhan-returned patient tested positive.As on Sunday morning, Maharashtra had a 5.5% recovery rate (35 cases) while Delhi’s stood at 4.04% (18 cases). Healthcare experts attribute Kerala’s healthy recovery rate and the lowest mortality among all states – two deaths so far, compared to 32 in Maharashtra till Saturday night, 6 in Delhi and 11 each in Telangana and MP – to early identification of positive cases and their admission to specialised Covid-care wards.Maharashtra, which had reported a high number of cases along with Kerala in March, had also shown a decent recovery rate. But what Kerala has managed to do and Maharashtra hasn’t is avert a sudden spurt in cases since. Kerala has also reported a faster discharge rate in several cases.Till Saturday, Kerala had collected 9,744 samples for testing, the second highest after Rajasthan.