Thiruvananthapuram: 2,910 people tested positive for coronavirus and 3,022 patients were cured of the deadly disease in Kerala on Monday, the Health department informed in a press statement.

Of the new cases, 2,653 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 312 among them is unknown. As many as 36 infected persons came from abroad while 133 came from other states.

The state has reported 1,38,631 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 98,724 persons recovered. The remaining 39,285 patients are being treated in various hospitals.

With 18 deaths being reported on Monday, in the last 7 days alone 99 people have died in the state, taking the death toll to 553.

Eighty-eight health workers also tested positive in the state on Monday – 31 from Thiruvananthapuram, 25 from Kannur, 12 from Ernakulam, eight from Kollam, six from Malappuram, two each from Pathanamthitta and Thrissur, one each from Palakkad and Kasaragod.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Thiruvananthapuram – 533 (contact cases – 497)
Kozhikode – 376 (340)

Malappuram – 349 (336)

Kannur – 314 (262)

Ernakulam – 299 (278)

Kollam – 195 (183)

Thrissur – 183 (176)

Palakkad – 167 (157)

Kottayam – 156 (148)

Alappuzha – 112 (104)

Kasaragod – 110 (101)

Idukki – 82 (45)

Wayanad – 18 (13)

Pathanamthitta – 16 (13)

District-wise breakup of recoveries:

Thiruvananthapuram – 519

Kollam – 243

Pathanamthitta – 79

Alappuzha – 234

Kottayam – 136

Idukki – 37

Ernakulam – 297

Thrissur – 140

Palakkad – 171

Malappuram - 486

Kozhikode – 419

Wayanad – 46

Kannur – 39

Kasaragod – 176

Testing and quarantine

In the last 24 hours, 25,848 samples have been tested. In total, 24,50,599 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. As many as 1,96,191 samples also collected as part of sentinel surveillance.

Of the 2,18,907 people under observation for suspected infection, 1,93,129 are home/institutional quarantined and 25,778 hospitalised. As many as 2,681 people were hospitalised since Sunday.

13 new places were designated as hotspots on Monday, while 12 regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 639 hotspots.

COVID deaths

The 18 deceased reported on Monday have been identified as Moosa (72) of Malappuram, who died on August 27; Kamalakshi (69) of Kadampuzha in Malappuram district, died on September 1; Mariyappan (70) of Nalleppally in Palakkad, died on Sept 3; Ayisha (65) of Sivapuram in Kannur, died on Sept 6; Damodaran Nair (80) of Keezhur in Palakkad, died on Sept 7; Pathumuthu (59) of Noorani in Palakkad, died on Sept 8; Gangadharan (70) of Kannur, died on Sept 8; Subaida (60) of Malappuram, died on Sept 12; V K Asiya (70) of Koothuparambu, died on Sept 13; Somasekharan (73) of Nedumangadu in Thiruvananthapuram, died on Sept 16; Bhageeradhi Amma (82) of Thirumala in Thiruvananthapuram, died on Sept 17; Remani (65) of Rasalpuram in Thiruvananthapuram, died on Sept 17; Suresh Babu (57) of Kariyikkakam in Thiruvananthapuram, died on Sept 17; Abbas (63) of Paravanna in Malappuram, died on Sept 18; Devaki (83) of Paravanna in Malappuram, died on Sept 19; Muhammad Kutty (82) of Chelakkad in Malappuram, died on Sept 19; Abdulla (65) of Melumuri in Malappuram, died on Sept 19; Khadeeja (85) of Tanur in Malappuram, died on Sept 20.