Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 4,51,130‬ on Tuesday, with the state reporting 6,862 fresh cases. The state also registered 8,802 recoveries since Monday.

In the last 24 hours, 61,138 samples have been tested. The test positivity rate is now at 11.22%.

So far, 3,64,745 people recovered from the disease, while 84,713 patients are still under treatment in various hospitals across the state, Health Minister Shailaja informed.

Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 5,899 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 783 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 73 healthcare workers (Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam - 20 each, Kannur - 11, Thrissur and Kozhikode 5 each, Kasaragod - 4, Pathanamthitta - 3, Palakkad and Wayanad - 2 each, Malappuram - 1) also contracted the virus.

The minister also confirmed 26 more deaths on Tuesday. The official death toll now stands at 1,559.

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

Thrissur - 856 (832 contact cases)

Ernakulam - 850 (575)

Kozhikode - 842 (814)

Alappuzha - 760 (754)

Thiruvananthapuram - 654 (467)

Kollam - 583 (574)

Kottayam - 507 (507)

Malappuram - 467 (440)

Palakkad - 431 (221)

Kannur - 335 (225)

Pathanamthitta - 245 (168)

Kasaragod - 147 (141)

Wayanad - 118 (109)

Idukki - 67 (42)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Thrissur - 921

Ernakulam - 865

Kozhikode - 922

Alappuzha - 656

Thiruvananthapuram - 563

Kollam - 721

Kottayam - 641

Malappuram - 945

Palakkad - 1,375

Kannur - 477

Pathanamthitta - 279

Kasaragod - 278

Wayanad - 83

Idukki - 76

Testing and quarantine

In total, 47,89,542 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing.

Of the 2,96,614 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,75,844 are home/institutional quarantined and 20,770 hospitalised. As many as 2,289 people were hospitalised since Monday.

Four new places were designated as hotspots on Tuesday, while nine regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 652 hotspots.