TN virus tally touches nearly 1.15 lakh cases, daily count dips
CHENNAI: The COVID-19 tally in Tamil Nadu touched nearly 1.15 lakh on Monday as the daily count witnessed a slide with 3,827 fresh cases after posting over 4,000 new infections in the past four days. As many as 61 people died of the virus and the toll stood at 1,571, a health department bulletin said. From July 2 to 5, Tamil Nadu posted 4,000 plus cases every day and Monday is the first day of less than 4,000 infections after a four day gap. On July 1, the state recorded 3,882 cases and on June 30, it was 3,943.
The total number of people who have tested positive till date is 1,14,978, of which Chennai accounted for 70,017. In the state capital, which witnessed an intense lockdown between June 19 and July 5, fresh cases, which stood at 2,082 on July 3, went below the 2,000 mark from the next day. On Monday, Chennai reported 1,747 cases, while it was was 1,713 on Sunday and 1,842 on July 4.
As many as 3,793 patients were discharged today and 66,571 people have recovered.
Active cases stood at 46,833, the bulletin said. A total of 34,782 samples were tested today alone and 13,76,497 specimens have been examined so far.
Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said the number of COVID- 19 beds in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here would be doubled to 2,000 from the present 1,000 to treat moderate and severe patients. All requisite facilities for the new additions, including oxygen lines, were being set up and it is expected to be ready in a week, he said. "About 5,000 CT scans and 15,000 X-rays have been taken for virus patients, and 70,000 samples were tested in the RGGH alone," he said.
Several new measures to avoid delay like wireless communication, battery cars (with oxygen facility) and tag system to identify COVID-19 patients have been introduced. Tomorrow, Chief Minister K Palaniswami would launch a linear accelerator device and a PET scan, totally worth about Rs 35 crore through video conference at the RGGH'S radiology department for the benefit of cancer patients, he said.