Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 6,36,392 on Sunday, with the state reporting 4,777 fresh cases. The state also registered 5,217 recoveries since Saturday.

In the last 24 hours, 51,893 samples have been tested. In total, 66,08,606 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. The test positivity rate is 9.21.

So far, 5,72,911 people recovered from the disease, while 60,924 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 4,120 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 534 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 39 healthcare workers (Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode 6 each, Kannur 5, Idukki, Ernakulam, Thrissur and Wayanad 4 each, Pathanamthitta and Palakkad 2 each, Kottayam and Malappuram 1 each) also contracted the virus.

The minister also confirmed 28 more deaths on Sunday. The official death toll now stands at 2,418.

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

Malappuram - 664 (contact cases - 623)

Kozhikode - 561 (534)

Thrissur - 476 (461)

Ernakulam - 474 (360)

Kottayam - 387 (386)

Kollam - 380 (378)

Thiruvananthapuram - 345 (204)

Palakkad - 341 (178)

Alappuzha - 272 (256)

Kannur - 223 (176)

Wayanad - 213 (201)

Pathanamthitta - 197 (146)

Idukki - 169 (145)

Kasaragod - 75 (72)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Malappuram - 852

Ernakulam - 685

Kottayam - 613

Kozhikode - 599

Alappuzha - 468

Palakkad - 397

Thiruvananthapuram - 377

Kollam - 336

Thrissur - 270

Kannur - 197

Pathanamthitta - 172

Kasaragod - 107

Wayanad - 80

Idukki - 64

Of the 3,14,400 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,99,469 are home/institutional quarantined and 14,931 hospitalised. As many as 1,643 people were hospitalised since Saturday.

Three new places were designated as hotspots on Sunday, while one region was excluded from the list. The state presently has 446 hotspots.