Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 5,45,641 on Thursday, with the state reporting 5,722 fresh cases. The state also registered 6,860 recoveries since Wednesday.

In the last 24 hours, 67,017 samples have been tested. In total, 56,88,651 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. The test positivity rate is 8.54.

So far, 4,75,320 people recovered from the disease, while 68,229 patients are still under treatment in various hospitals across the state, Health Minister K K Shailaja said in a statement.

Local transmission of COVID-19 continues unabated as 4,904 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 643 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 58 healthcare workers also contracted the virus.

The minister also confirmed 26 more deaths on Thursday. The official death toll now stands at 1,969.

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

Malappuram - 862 (contact cases - 836)

Thrissur - 631 (614)

Kozhikode - 575 (534)

Alappuzha - 527 (519)

Palakkad - 496 (277)

Thiruvananthapuram - 456 (343)

Ernakulam - 423 (283)

Kottayam - 342 (340)

Kollam - 338 (331)

Kannur - 337 (244)

Idukki - 276 (225)

Pathanamthitta - 200 (117)

Kasaragod - 145 (134)

Wayanad - 114 (107)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Ernakulam – 936

Kozhikode – 894

Thrissur – 836

Thiruvananthapuram – 658

Alappuzha – 626

Kollam – 596

Malappuram – 522

Palakkad – 406

Kottayam – 402

Kannur – 337

Idukki – 219

Kasaragod – 146

Pathanamthitta – 124

Wayanad - 118

Of the 3,18,025 people under observation for suspected infection, 3,01,547 are home/institutional quarantined and 16,478 hospitalised. As many as 2,131 people were hospitalised since Wednesday.

Four new places were designated as hotspots on Thursday, while 24 regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 565 hotspots.