Coronavirus | No death in Chennai; five test positive for U.K. variant – The Hindu

Chennai News

Chennai, which accounts for a total of 4,085 deaths, registered zero fatality after several months.

Chennai reported no death due to COVID-19, while three districts — Ariyalur, Kallakurichi and Perambalur — saw no fresh case, even as 569 persons tested positive for the infection on Sunday.

Five persons, including three returnees from the United Kingdom and two contacts, who had earlier tested positive for the infection, were found to have contracted the U.K. variant.

The Health Department said that as per a communication received from Instem Lab, Bengaluru, the five were found to have been infected with the U.K. variant upon completion of whole genome sequencing (WGS). A total of 9 persons have tested positive for the U.K. variant of the virus in the State so far. Of them, seven had tested negative on follow-up RT-PCR testing, and were discharged and kept under home quarantine. Two U.K. returnees are currently under observation in hospital isolation and awaiting follow-up testing, as per the Standard Operating Procedure.

The State has, thus far, sent the samples of 46 patients who had tested positive under the RT-PCR method (26 U.K. returnees and 20 contacts) for WGS. Of them, 9 have tested positive for the U.K. variant, 26 have tested negative, and the results for 11 others are awaited.

Chennai, which accounts for a total of 4,085 deaths, registered zero fatality after several months.

According to the bulletin issued on Sunday, seven persons succumbed to the infection in the State, including two in Coimbatore and one each in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Madurai, Tiruvallur and Tiruppur. Three of them died in private hospitals and four in government hospitals, taking the toll to 12,316.

E. Theranirajan, dean of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, said better awareness to seek medical help early and the availability of laboratories and 24×7 treatment facilities in government hospitals were among the factors that had led to a reduction in mortality.

“A standard treatment protocol is in place at the hospital. Our doctors are well-versed with the management plan. Immediate categorisation of patients — triaging at the outpatient department — depending on their clinical condition has helped to a great extent,” he said.

Chennai reported 168 fresh cases, followed by Coimbatore (55) and Chengalpattu (40). While 36 persons tested positive for the infection in Tiruppur, there were 29 cases in Erode, 23 in Kancheepuram and 22 in Tiruvallur. The remaining districts had less than 20 cases each. Tiruvannamalai and Ramanathapuram reported only one new case each.

The new cases took the State’s tally to 8,34,740. A total of 642 persons were discharged, taking the total number of persons discharged till date to 8,17,520. The number of active cases stood at 4,904.

All seven persons who died had co-morbidities and were above 60 years of age. They included a 90-year-old woman from Chengalpattu, who had hypertension. She was admitted to a private hospital in Chennai with complaints of fever, cough and tiredness on January 12. She died on January 23 due to acute respiratory distress syndrome and COVID-19 pneumonia.

A total of 62,619 samples were tested in 24 hours. As many as 1,56,40,385 samples have been tested in the State till date.

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/coronavirus-no-death-in-chennai-five-test-positive-for-uk-variant/article33652710.ece