Daily cases near 20,000, deaths surge to 147

CHENNAI: The daily cases of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu is nearing 20,000 as the State recorded 19,588 new pandemic cases on Saturday. The total number of COVID-19 cases in the State now stands at 11,86,344.

With a total of 1,17,405 active cases in the State, there is about 49 per cent of bed availability with the lowest of 34 per cent bed vacancy in hospitals and COVID health centres in Chennai out of 11,203 beds available. The COVID Care Centers in the State have a total vacancy of 67 per cent, while the city has a bed availability of 40 per cent.

On Saturday, 5,829 cases of COVID-19 were reported in Chennai, 1,449 cases in Chengalpattu and 1,257 in Coimbatore. Among other districts, Tirunelveli, Tiruvallur, Salem, Madurai, Tiruchy and Thoothukudi also reported a spike in the cases.

The deaths due to COVID-19 in TN are also seeing a surge as 147 deaths were reported on Saturday, including 33 of those with no comorbidities. The highest number of deaths due to COVID-19 were reported in Chennai, where 47 lives perished.

The active cases in the State counted 1,17,405 on Saturday, including 31,475 active cases from Chennai. As many as 17,164 people were discharged from several hospitals across the State on Saturday, taking the total recoveries in TN to 10,54,646. As many as 1,51,452 samples were tested for COVID-19 in the State on Saturday.

Meanwhile, a total of 80,355 people were vaccinated against COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu on Saturday. The vaccination for the age group of 18-44 years was not started as scheduled earlier, though a private hospital undertook vaccination for the said group. So far, 59,34,485 people have been vaccinated against COVID-19 in the State.