TN records new high of 4,343 cases; districts overtake city for 1st time
Number of +ve cases in the State nearing 1L; 57 deaths reported on Thursday
CHENNAI: Even as Health Minister C Vijaya Baskar on Thursday reiterated that there was no community transmission in Tamil Nadu, the State recorded a major spike in the number of COVID-19 cases with 4,343 more testing positive for the virus, including 4,270 from TN. The rest were returnees from other States/countries. The total tally stands at 98,392.
For the first time, Chennai recorded less than half of the new cases with 2,027 testing positive. However, rest of the cases were spread across other districts. Madurai reported 273 cases of COVID-19, 171 cases were in Chengalpattu, 170 in Tiruvannamalai, 164 in Tiruvallur and 137 cases in Vellore. Kallakurichi recorded 133 cases, Ranipet 127, Ramanathapuram had 117 cases and Kancheepuram reported 112 cases of the virus.
Speaking to the media, Vijaya Baskar said all measures are being taken to prevent and control the spread of COVID-19 in the State. “All symptomatic and severe cases are being treated as per protocol, however, it is a challenge to treat the elderly patients, patients with cardiac issues and those with several comorbidities,” he said.
A total of 57 more deaths were reported on Thursday, including 12 people who did not have any underlying co-morbid conditions. While 20 of them were reported in private hospitals, 37 of them died in government hospitals. The death toll in the State has reached 1,321 with more than 70 per cent fatalities due to co-morbidities.
A total of 33,488 samples were tested in the last 24 hours and so far 12,35,692 samples have been
Health Minister said it is a challenge to treat the elderly, patients with cardiac issues and those with co-morbidities
examined in 91 labs -- 48 in government and 43 in the private sector across the State.
The number of those who recovered has also increased as 3,095 more patients were discharged from several hospitals across the State on Thursday. So far, 56,021 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the State, even as 41,047 active cases remained as on Thursday.