TN records 4,150 new cases; 60 deaths due to Covid-19

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu remained under the grip of coronavirus with over 4,000 fresh cases being reported for the fourth straight day, taking the tally to 1,11,151 on Sunday, the state Health Department said.

The state added 4,150 new cases while 60 people succumbed to the virus, pushing the toll to 1,510, a Health Department bulletin said. A ruling AIADMK MLA from Coimbatore tested positive for the virus, pushing the number of legislators from the state to have contracted the infection to nine.

On the positive side, recoveries climbed to 62,778 with 2,186 people being discharged after treatment from various health care facilities on Sunday. The number of active cases stood at 46,860, the bulletin said.

With the focus remaining on ramping up testing, a total of 34,831 samples were examined, taking the overall tally to 13.41 lakh.

In the backdrop of increased testing, the state has recorded 4,000 plus cases daily since Thursday.

Capital city Chennai, consistently topping the virus count among the 37 districts in the state, saw a dip in new infections on Sunday, reporting 1,713 cases as against the 1,842 on Saturday.

According to the bulletin, among the 60 who succumbed to the dreaded virus, three of them had no comorbidities. A 29-year old woman from city breathed her last due to cardiopulmonary arrest while a 90-year old from neighbouring Kancheepuram died due to 'respiratory failure'.

Among the 4,150 new cases, as many as 73 of them were returnees to the state from various locations. Besides Chennai, nieghbouring Chengalpattu reported 274 new cases, Kancheepuram 152, Tiruvallur 209, Tiruvannamalai 141, Vellore 179 and Villpuram 109 new cases.

The temple town Madurai recorded a surge of 308 fresh cases on Sunday.

Incidentally, the government has extended lockdown in Madurai and nearby areas till July 12 from Monday. Chennai's fatality rate

looked no better, with 1,054 of the 1,510 victims so far hailing from this metropolis.

The total number of infections in the city touched 68,254 on Sunday, the bulletin added. A report from Coimbatore said AIADMK MLA from the western city tested positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, becoming the fifth ruling party legislator to contract the virus. He has been admitted to the Government ESI Hospital in the district. His daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter were already undergoing treatment at the facility for the infection after their return from Madurai a couple of days ago.