Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 6,77,255 on Tuesday, with the state reporting 5,218 fresh cases. The state also registered 5,066 recoveries since Monday.

In the last 24 hours, 56,453 samples have been tested. In total, 70,56,318 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing. The test positivity rate is 9.24.

So far, 6,16,666 people recovered from the disease, while 57,757 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 4,478 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 622 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 46 healthcare workers (Ernakulam and Thrissur 9 each, Kannur 7, Palakkad 6, Pathanamthitta 5, Thiruvananthapuram 3, Malappuram and Wayanad 2 each, Kollam, Idukki and Kozhikode 1 each) also contracted the virus.

The minister also confirmed 33 more deaths on Tuesday. The official death toll now stands at 2,680.

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

Kottayam – 758 (733 through contact)

Thrissur – 712 (689)

Ernakulam – 617 (442)

Thiruvananthapuram - 430 (306)

Kollam – 419 (413)

Pathanamthitta – 404 (304)

Malappuram – 377 (355)

Palakkad – 349 (162)

Alappuzha – 322 (310)

Wayanad – 281 (273)

Kozhikode - 276 (257)

Kannur – 149 (114)

Idukki – 104 (100)

Kasaragod – 20 (20)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Kollam – 863

Malappuram – 714

Thrissur – 706

Kozhikode – 487

Kottayam – 440

Ernakulam – 416

Palakkad – 338

Thiruvananthapuram – 290

Alappuzha – 233

Pathanamthitta – 188

Wayanad – 162

Kannur – 115

Idukki – 72

Kasaragod – 42

Of the 3,04,165 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,90,987 are home/institutional quarantined and 13,178 hospitalised. As many as 1,357 people were hospitalised since Monday.

12 new places were designated as hotspots on Tuesday, while three regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 442 hotspots.