Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala's COVID-19 case count reached 4,59,646 on Wednesday, with the state reporting 8,516 fresh cases. The state also registered 8,206 recoveries since Tuesday.

In the last 24 hours, 71,270 samples were tested. The test positivity rate is 11.94%.

So far, 3,72,951 people recovered from the disease, while 84,995 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 7,473 of the newly reported cases contracted the virus through contact. Of this, the infection sources of 879 are unknown, the minister said.

Apart from this, 67 healthcare workers (Thiruvananthapuram 18, Kozhikode 9, Thrissur 8, Kannur 7, Ernakulam 6, Pathanamthitta 5, Kollam, Malappuram and Kasaragod 4 each, Kottayam and Wayanad 1 each) also contracted the virus.

The chief minister also confirmed 28 more deaths on Wednesday. The official death toll now stands at 1587.

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

Ernakulam - 1,197 (936 contact cases)

Thrissur - 1,114 (1,095)

Kozhikode - 951 (908)

Kollam - 937 (925)

Malappuram - 784 (703)

Alappuzha - 765 (736)

Thiruvananthapuram - 651 (481)

Kottayam - 571 (564)

Palakkad - 453 (235)

Kannur - 370 (295)

Idukki - 204 (176)

Pathanamthitta - 186 (126)

Kasaragod - 182 (171)

Wayanad - 151 (132)

District-wise break-up of recoveries:

Ernakulam - 1,078

Thrissur - 936

Kozhikode - 1,015

Kollam - 796

Malappuram - 655

Alappuzha - 672

Thiruvananthapuram - 881

Kottayam - 470

Palakkad - 583

Kannur - 515

Idukki - 90

Pathanamthitta - 286

Kasaragod - 169

Wayanad - 87

Testing and quarantine

In total, 48,60,812 samples (including routine, airport surveillance, pooled sentinel, CBNAAT, TrueNAT, CLIA and antigen assay) were sent for testing.

Of the 3,02,063 people under observation for suspected infection, 2,81,100 are home/institutional quarantined and 20,963 hospitalised. As many as 2,972 people were hospitalised since Tuesday.

Ten new places were designated as hotspots on Wednesday, while 24 regions were excluded from the list. The state presently has 638 hotspots.