Chennai, five northern districts see 60% of Tamil Nadu’s new COVID-19 cases – The Hindu

Chennai, along with five northern districts, accounted for nearly 60% of the 3,756 new COVID-19 cases reported in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. The surge in cases continued in the southern parts of the State, especially in Madurai, Kanniyakumari and Thoothukudi.

With this, the State’s tally increased to 1,22,350*. A total of 3,051 persons were discharged from hospitals, while 64 more persons succumbed to the infection in the State. There are a total of 46,480 active cases, while 74,167 patients have been discharged till now. Tamil Nadu’s toll stood at 1,700.

Chennai recorded 1,261 COVID-19 cases, while its neighbouring districts Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu saw an increase in the number of new infections, with 300 and 273 cases, respectively. Vellore and Kancheepuram reported 160 cases each and Villupuram saw 104 cases.

Madurai continued to record a high number of cases at 379, taking its tally past 5,000. While 141 cases were reported in Thoothukudi, there were 112 cases in Kanniyakumari. Coimbatore recorded 87 cases, while Cuddalore and Virudhunagar saw 70 cases each.

Chennai now has 72,500 cases, followed by Chengalpattu (7,215), Tiruvallur (5,507) and Madurai (5,057). Three districts — Kancheepuram, Tiruvannamalai and Vellore — have more than 2,000 cases each, while 11 districts have over 1,000 cases each. Sixty-three returnees, including 13 persons from Karnataka, tested positive in the State.

Of the 64 fatalities, 26 persons died in Chennai and nine in Madurai. Among them was a 23-year-old woman who was admitted to a private hospital on July 6 with complaints of fever, cough for two days and breathing difficulty for a day. However, she died within a day of admission on July 7 due to COVID-19. She had no co-morbidities.

A 36-year-old man from Ranipet died at a private medical college hospital on July 7. He had no co-morbidities and was admitted with complaints of breathing difficulty for two days. He died due to COVID-19 pneumonia and cardiac pulmonary arrest.

Dip in cases

The number of new infections has seen a dip in Chennai in the last few days. As it continued to stay at the 1,200-mark for the second consecutive day, a public health expert said there was a need to wait and watch the trend for the next 10 days. “The unlock may cause a surge in the number of people failing to wear masks and comply with physical distancing norms. We need to watch for the next 10 days,” the expert said

J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, said that the work must continue with the same intensity. “We appeal to the people to strictly follow standard operating procedures (SOP) for each activity, and the common factors for all SOPs are 100% herd masking, physical distancing, handwashing and stepping out of houses only if necessary. The vulnerable need to be protected,” he said.

He urged people not to hide symptoms and not attach any stigma to the disease. “Avoiding gatherings is another advisory as funerals, marriages and public places including markets could become a source of spread and this is being monitored,” he said. The official added that continued public cooperation and making COVID-19 prevention a community-involved movement was the approach, apart from strengthening the health infrastructure.

In the last 24 hours, a total of 35,979 samples were tested in the State. This took the total number of samples tested to 14,49,414. Two more government testing facilities — the Government Hospital, Harur, and the Government Headquarters Hospital in Erode — were approved for testing. There are a total of 98 testing facilities in the State now.

(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)