Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 4,44,268 on Monday, with the state reporting 4,138 fresh cases when 33,345 samples were tested in the last 24 hours.

The state also registered 7,108 recoveries. The test positivity rate, which had reached 14.04% the previous day, plunged to 12.41% on Monday.

So far, 3,55,943 people recovered from the disease, while 86,681 patients are still under treatment in various hospitals across the state, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan informed.

Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 3,599 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 438 are unknown, the chief minister said.

Apart from this, 47 healthcare workers (Kannur - 9, Ernakulam and Kozhikode - 8 each, Thiruvananthapuram - 7, Thrissur - 5, Pathanamthitta - 4, Kollam - 3, Kasaragod - 2, Malappuram - 1) also contracted the virus.

The chief minister also confirmed 21 more deaths on Monday. The official death toll now stands at 1,533.

Despite the surge in cases, Kerala's COVID fatality rate is 0.34%. Most of those succumbed to the virus in the state had comorbidities. 72.3% among the deceased were above 60, the chief minister said.

District-wise break-up of today's positive cases:

Kozhikode – 576 (contact cases – 541)

Ernakulam – 518 (407)

Alappuzha – 498 (482)

Malappuram – 467 (440)

Thrissur – 433 (420)

Thiruvananthapuram – 361 (281)

Kollam – 350 (339)

Palakkad – 286 (133)

Kottayam – 246 (244)

Kannur – 195 (135)

Idukki – 60 (53)

Kasaragod – 58 (54)

Wayanad – 46 (42)

Pathanamthitta – 44 (28)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Ernakulam – 1,093

Thrissur – 967

Malappuram – 945

Kozhikode – 839

Alappuzha – 793

Thiruvananthapuram – 507

Kollam – 553

Pathanamthitta – 228

Kottayam – 334

Palakkad – 463

Kasaragod – 143

Kannur – 93

Idukki – 78

Wayanad – 72

Testing and quarantine

In total, 47,28,404 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing.

Of the 2,93,221 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,71,744 are home/institutional quarantined and 21,477 hospitalised. As many as 2,437 people were hospitalised since Sunday.

Five new places were designated as hotspots on Monday, while 19 regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 657 hotspots.

Key points from CM's press meet

• Kerala has 12,329 case per million in Kerala while the national average is 5,963.

• The state has increased the number of tests.

• The weekly doubling rate of new cases came down by 5 per cent in the state.

• A new campaign has been launched to persuade the public to use masks on a regular basis.