THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state registered 1968 cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, health minister KK Shailaja informed.

Among the new cases, 1737 persons developed the disease through contact including 100 cases without an identified source of infection. 71 persons came from abroad, while 109 persons returned from other states. 48 health workers also tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours.

Meanwhile, 1217 coronavirus patients tested negative for the virus on Thursday.

District wise break up of positive cases:

Thiruvananthapuram- 429

Malappuram-356

Alappuzha- 198

Ernakulam- 150

Kozhikode- 130

Kottayam- 124

Pathanamthitta- 119

Kasargod- 91

Kollam- 86

Kannur- 78

Thrissur- 72

Palakkad- 65

Idukki- 35

Wayanad- 35

The state reported 9 deaths in the past 24 hours. The total death as of today is 191.

There are 1,73,189 persons under observation over various districts in the state including 14,646 in hospitals. On Thursday alone, 2198 persons were admitted to hospitals.

In the past 24 hours, 37,010 samples were tested. A total of 13,12,992 samples were sent for testing so far.

The state declared 31 new hotspots on Thursday, while 18 places were removed from the list of hotspots. At present, there are 585 hotspots in the state.