Active cases have been rising since March 6 and on Thursday, the state had 3,13,048 patients under treatment. On Friday, it dropped to 3,12,386. Also for the first time in four weeks, the discharge count (31,255) outpaced the fresh infection count (31,079).
For the seventh consecutive day, new cases registered a decline. The major hotspots — Coimbatore (3,937) and Chennai (2,762 — recorded a decline compared to Thursday. On the flipside, TN on Friday recorded the highest single-day tally of 486 deaths, taking the total to 22,775 ₹ fourth highest in the country after Maharashtra (93,198), Karnataka (27,405) and Delhi (23,951).
Among the 486 who died in TN on Friday, almost onefourth (117) had no comorbidities like diabetes or hypertension. Coimbatore had more cases than Chennai, but had 33 deaths against 107 in Chennai. The death count remained the same in Chennai’s neighbouring districts of Chengalpet, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, which together reported 3,314 cases, 10% of TN’s new cases. The infection curve rose not only in Coimbatore but also in Tirupur (1,823), Erode (1,731 new cases), Madurai (1,140 cases) and Theni (576).
Health minister Ma Subramanian said two ministers and one IAS officer were deployed to monitor the situation in Coimbatore.
Black fungus
The state has so far reported 400 mucormycosis (black fungus) cases, with Chennai having the most (113) followed by Vellore (74) and Coimbatore (43). Of them, 204 were treated at private hospitals and the rest at government facilities.
Dr Mohan Kameshwaran of Madras ENT Research Foundation said research was on to see if the new coronavirus variant affected immunity. “Patients developing symptoms nearly 7 to 14 days after discharge, should approach hospitals soon. If diagnosed earlier, it can be treated through surgeries and medication,” said the ENT specialist, who is a part of the TN Mucormycosis task force constituted on Thursday.
Vaccination, tests
On Friday, 3,09,951 got jabs, marginally less than Thursday’s 3,23,915. The cumulative vaccination total is 84,50,115. Tamil Nadu tested 1,65,124 people on Friday. On the delay in test results, minister Subramanian told reporters that they have advised all 267 approved labs to release results within 24 hours.
Source: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/covid-19-tamil-nadu-registers-31079-new-cases-486-deaths/articleshow/83053782.cms
