Fresh cases in TN double in 24 hrs; tally reaches 4,862

Fresh COVID cases across Tamil Nadu almost doubled in 24 hours with the State tally touching 4,862 on Wednesday. On the previous day, 2,731 cases were reported.

After witnessing a declining trend for several weeks, Tamil Nadu has been reporting a sharp increase in new infections since last week. As has been the trend in this third wave, Chennai reported more than half of the fresh cases (2,481) in 24 hours. Chengalpattu (596), Kancheepuram (127) and Tiruvallur (209) together reported 3,403 of the total cases during the period.

On January 1, Chennai had reported 682 cases, Chengalpattu 168, Kancheepuram 35, and Tiruvallur 70 cases. On the other hand, fresh cases in other districts also witnessed a surge, where Coimbatore reported 259 cases, Vellore 184, Thoothukudi 123. A few other districts reported less than 100 cases. With 1,03,798 people testing for COVID-19, an overall TPR of 2.6% was reported.

A total of nine deaths were reported in Tamil Nadu. The total casualties reached 36,814. At least 688 patients were discharged from various hospitals across the state, and so far 27, 07,058 patients have been discharged following treatment.

At least nine international passengers – UAE (6), Sri Lanka (2), and Ghana (1) tested positive and 29 imported cases from West Bengal (19), Bihar (4), and one case each from Andhra Pradesh, Delhi, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and Bangladesh were reported. On the status of Omicron variant, the bulletin said the total cases remained at 121 with 110 people being discharged, leaving eight active cases. Three cases were cross-notified to Kerala, Puducherry and Andhra Pradesh, it added.