Thiruvananthapuram, Feb 28 : Kerala reported 3,254 new cases on Sunday, while 4,333 patients recovered from the disease, Health Minister KK Shailaja confirmed.

“In the past 24 hours, COVID-19 was not detected in any person who recently came to Kerala from the UK (total 94 now) and their samples have been sent to NIV, Pune for further testing. So far, 11 people who came from the UK were diagnosed with the genetically modified virus,” the Minister said in a press release here this evening.

Meanwhile, 15 recent deaths were confirmed today as due to Covid taking the death toll in the state to 4,197.

The Minister said 62,769 samples were tested during the last 24 hours and the test positivity rate is 5.18 per cent. Till now, a total of 1,14,76,284 samples have been sent for testing.

Today, no place was declared as new hotspot, even as two areas have been excluded. There are 367 hotspots in Kerala now. (UNI)