Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 2 (IANS) Kerala on Tuesday recorded 5,716 new coronavirus cases after tests on 52,940 samples even as 5,747 more patients recovered from the disease.

The state's test positivity rate on Tuesday was 10.80 per cent.

Ernakulam had the highest 755 new cases and Kasargod the lowest 83 cases. Sixteen more fatalities on Tuesday took the state's total COVID-19 deaths to 3,776.

In all, 96 positive patients had come from outside the state while 5,161 persons tested positive through contacts. The sources of contact of 403 persons was not known.

Another 56 health workers also tested positive -- Kannur 16, Ernakulam 9, Pathanamthitta and Wayanad 5 each, Kozhikode 4, Thiruvananthapuram, Idukki and Palakkad 3 each, Kollam, Thrissur and Kasargod 2 each, and Kottayam and Malappuram 1 each.

As many as 2,18,347 persons are under observation in Kerala, including 2,07,408 in house or institutional quarantine and 10,939 in various hospitals.

In all, 65 new hotspots were added and 85 places removed from the list, taking the total numbers down to 356.

--IANS aal/tsb