Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 19 (PTI) COVID-19 infections in Kerala continued to witness a steep rise as the state on Wednesday logged 34,199 fresh positive cases, taking the infection count to 54,41,511. The state had reported 28,481 cases on Tuesday. The State health department said the state had tested 91,983 samples in the last 24 hours and there are 1.68 lakh active COVID-19 cases. On Wednesday, Kerala recorded 134 deaths, taking the toll to 51,160. Among today"s fatalities, 49 were recorded over the last few days and 85 designated as COVID-19 deaths after receiving appeals based on the new guidelines of the Centre and the directions of the Supreme Court. "Currently, there are 1,68,383 active COVID-19 cases in the state out of which only 3.2 per cent are admitted to hospitals," the Health department said in a release. Among the districts, Ernakulam reported 5,953 new cases, followed by Thiruvananthapuram with 5,684 and Kozhikode with 3,386. Of those found infected today, 125 reached the state from outside while 33,195 contracted the disease from their contacts. The source of infection of 596 is yet to be traced. As many as 283 health workers are also among the infected. Meanwhile, 8,193 people recovered from the infection on Wednesday, taking the total cured to 52,44,206. PTI TGB BN BN