Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 26 (IANS): Kerala seems to have no respite from the Covid-19 pandemic as the state reported nearly 7,000 fresh infections on Tuesday, according to health officials.

Of the 60,315 samples tested, 6,923 turned positive while the positivity rate was 10.43 per cent.

Meanwhile, 5,290 people were discharged from hospitals after recovering from the disease.

Besides, 71,607 people are under treatment in various hospitals of the state.

At total of 19 people succumbed to the lethal virus on Tuesday taking the Covid death toll in the state to 3,643.

Kerala's Ernakulam district reported the highest number of Covid positive cases -- 866, while Kasargod district recorded the lowest number of cases -- 85.

Of the total Covid cases reported on Tuesday, 73 had come from outside the state, 5,741 people contracted the disease through contact while the source of contact of 426 people were not known.

A total of 2,14,556 people are under observation in various parts of the state. Of them, 2,02,269 of them are under home/institutional quarantine. Besides, 11,947 people are under observation at various hospitals in the state.

Four new hotspots were detected, taking the total number of hotspots in the state to 402.