Thiruvananthapuram: 10 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the state on Wednesday while one person tested negative, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced through his official Facebook page.

Among the positive cases, 3 are from Malappuram district, 2 each from Wayanad and Palakkad districts while one each are from Kottayam, Kannur and Kozhikode districts.

Among the new cases, 4 had returned from abroad the other day while 2 had returned from Chennai.

Meanwhile, one patient who was undergoing treatment at Kollam has tested negative.

The two new cases in Wayanad district contracted the virus through contact from the truck driver, who had returned from Koyambedu in Chennai.

The new COVID-19 patient in Kannur and one among the three new patients in Malappuram are police officers who were on duty in Wayanad district. Both contracted the disease from the truck driver.

With this, 10 persons have contracted the virus from the truck driver.

Till date 534 persons have tested positive for the disease and 41 are under treatment. 490 people have recovered. There are a total of 34,447 people under observation in the state with 33,953 in houses and 494 in hospitals, the CM added.

168 people were admitted to hospitals on Wednesday. So far, 39,380 samples were sent to the labs for testing out of which 38,509 have been confirmed as negative, he said.

As part of Sentinel Surveillance, 4,268 samples from priority groups including health workers and other state labourers were sent for testing out of which 4,065 results came out negative, Pinarayi Vijayan said.

There are 34 hotspots in Kerala at present but there are no new ones.