Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 5,51,669 on Friday, with the state reporting 6,028 fresh cases. The state also registered 6,398 recoveries since Thursday.

In the last 24 hours, 60,365 samples have been tested. In total, 57,49,016 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. The test positivity rate is 9.98.

So far, 4,81,718 people recovered from the disease, while 67,831 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 5,213 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 654 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 56 healthcare workers (Ernakulam 18, Thiruvananthapuram 7, Palakkad 6, Pathanamthitta and Kannur 5 each, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad 3 each, Kollam and Kasaragod 2 each, Kottayam and Thrissur 1 each) also contracted the virus.

The chief minister also confirmed 28 more deaths on Friday. The official death toll now stands at 1,997.

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

Malappuram - 1054 (contact cases - 996)

Kozhikode - 691 (641)

Thrissur - 653 (639)

Palakkad - 573 (351)

Ernakulam - 554 (387)

Kollam - 509 (505)

Kottayam - 423 (420)

Alappuzha - 395 (392)

Thiruvananthapuram - 393 (285)

Kannur - 251 (176)

Pathanamthitta - 174 (118)

Kasaragod - 138 (126)

Wayanad - 135 (125)

Idukki - 85 (52)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Alappuzha - 824

Thrissur - 803

Malappuram - 740

Kollam - 664

Kozhikode - 634

Thiruvananthapuram - 611

Ernakulam - 545

Palakkad - 497

Kottayam - 301

Kannur - 295

Wayanad - 151

Pathanamthitta - 137

Kasaragod - 134

Idukki - 62

Of the 3,15,518 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,99,089 are home/institutional quarantined and 16,429 hospitalised. As many as 2,032 people were hospitalised since Thursday.

Three new places were designated as hotspots on Friday, while 11 regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 557 hotspots.