Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala reported 5,456 new coronavirus positive cases after 54,472 tests on Friday. The state also registered 4,701 recoveries in the last 24 hours, the Health department informed in a press statement.

The state has reported 6,93,865 COVID-19 cases so far, out of which 6,32,065 persons recovered. The remaining 58,884 patients are undergoing treatment. The test positivity rate stands at 10.02.

With 23 deaths being reported on Friday, the state's death toll has risen to 2,757.

Of the new cases, 4,722 contracted the disease through contact. The source of infection of 606 among them is unknown. As many as 91 infected persons came from outside the state.

The COVID-19 protocol had gone for a toss on Wednesday as supporters of various political fronts celebrated the results of a keenly-contested local body election.

The state health department, displeased with the way the political fronts including the ruling LDF had handled the entire electoral process, now fears a sharp rise in coronavirus cases. Kottayam MLA Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan tested positive for coronavirus on Friday and requested all those who came in contact with him to be on alert.

Testing and quarantine

A total of 2,94,646 people are under observation in various districts. Of these, 2,81,217 are under home or institutional quarantine and 13,429 are in hospitals.

1,470 people were admitted in hospitals on Friday.

So far, 72,33,523 samples (including the augmented sample) have been sent for testing.

On Friday, five more regions have been converted into hotspots and one has been excluded from the list taking the total number of hotspots to 453 in the state.

District-wise breakup of today's positive cases:

Kozhikode - 674 (contact cases – 651)

Thrissur - 630 (616)

Ernakulam - 578 (436)

Kottayam - 538 (503)

Malappuram - 485 (462)

Kollam - 441 (438)

Pathanamthitta - 404 (319)

Palakkad - 365 (180)

Alappuzha - 324 (304)

Thiruvananthapuram - 309 (176)

Kannur - 298 (246)

Wayanad - 219 (214)

Idukki - 113 (104)

Kasaragod - 78 (73)

District-wise breakup of recoveries:

Thiruvananthapuram – 273

Kollam – 283

Pathanamthitta – 190

Alappuzha – 211

Kottayam – 463

Idukki – 134

Ernakulam – 504

Thrissur – 577

Palakkad – 205

Malappuram – 664

Kozhikode – 581

Wayanad – 192

Kannur – 349

Kasaragod – 75