Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 4,95,712‬ on Tuesday, with the state reporting 6,010 fresh cases. The state also registered 6,698 recoveries since Monday.

In the last 24 hours, 54,751 samples have been tested. In total, 51,85,673 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing.

The test positivity rate is 10.98.

So far, 4,15,158 people recovered from the disease, while 78,694 patients are still under treatment in various hospitals across the state, a Health Department statement said.

Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 5,188 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 653 are unknown.

Apart from this, 69 healthcare workers (Thiruvananthapuram andKozhikode 12 each, Malappuram 9, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Kannur 8 each, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Idukki, Palakkad, Wayanad and Kasaragod 2 each) also contracted the virus.

The department also confirmed 28 more deaths on Tuesday. The official death toll now stands at 1742.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Kozhikode - 807 (contact cases – 759)

Thrissur - 711 (685)

Malappuram - 685 (645)

Alappuzha - 641 (628)

Ernakulam - 583 (375)

Thiruvananthapuram - 567 (436)

Kollam - 431 (425)

Kottayam - 426 (420)

Palakkad - 342 (182)

Kannur – 301 (220)

Pathanamthitta - 234 (180)

Wayanad - 112 (104)

Idukki - 89 (57)

Kasaragod - 81 (72)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Thiruvananthapuram 580

Kollam 485

Pathanamthitta 175

Alappuzha 559

Kottayam 361

Idukki 105

Ernakulam 1078

Thrissur 1088

Palakkad 413

Malappuram 545

Kozhikode 798

Wayanad 135

Kannur 177

Kasaragod 199

Of the 3,16,359 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,97,041 are home/institutional quarantined and 19,318 hospitalised. As many as 2,039 people were hospitalised since Monday.

11 new places were designated as hotspots on Tuesday, while seven regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 616 hotspots.