Coimbatore sees 7 deaths, 228 fresh positive cases

Salem reports 62 cases; 45-day-old male baby tests positive in Tiruppur

A health worker checks the blood oxygen level of a person at a fever camp conducted by the Coimbatore Corporation at Teppakulam.

Coimbatore district continued to top the western region with seven deaths and 228 positive cases being reported on Tuesday. The district’s tally of positive cases rose to 5,688.

The deaths reported on Tuesday had occurred on Sunday and Monday, according to the Health Department. The deceased were aged between 40 and 75. The toll so far in the district is 85.

Tiruppur district reported two deaths -- a 52-year-old man and a 45-year-old woman. With 23 new positive cases, the total tally of the district touched the 1,000 mark on Tuesday. New cases included a 45-day-old male baby from Palavanjipalayam in the Corporation limits. Cases were also reported from Udumalpet, Mulanur, Kundadam and Vellakoil Blocks.

Health authorities in Coimbatore denied rumours that the district ran short of beds for COVID-19 patients. The Health Department on Tuesday said that 3,183 beds out of the total number of 4,897 in Government and private hospitals and COVID-19 Care Centres (CCC) were vacant as on Tuesday. As many as 1,714 persons were under treatment on Tuesday, of whom 1,021 were in hospital and 653 asymptomatic patients in CCCs, said the Department. Of the total number of 4,897 beds in the district, 2,921 were in ESI Hospital, CMCH, Government Headquarters Hospital at Pollachi, 10 government hospitals and 16 private hospitals. The remaining 1,976 beds for asymptomatic patients were in 16 CCCs in Government facilities and five CCCs in private facilities. Sources said the district administration planned to provide another 100 beds at the CCCs of another hall of Codissia Trade Fair Complex and in the building of an IT firm.

Salem district reported 62 fresh cases - 60 indigenous and two with travel history to Perambalur and Pudukottai districts. Namakkal district reported 39 cases. Four persons had travelled to Erode, two to Salem and one had returned from Andhra Pradesh.

Twenty new cases in Erode took the district’s tally to 789. Ten persons were discharged on Tuesday and 172 patients are under treatment at the Government Erode Medical College and Hospital at Perundurai. Ten deaths were reported so far in the district. Krishnagiri district recorded 25 new cases, taking the total number of cases so far to 1,196. In Dharmapuri, two persons tested positive. The number of positive cases in the district increased to 791.

Fourteen persons tested positive in the Nilgiris district. The district’s tally of positive cases rose to 863.