Two persons died of COVID-19 in Salem district on Friday, and there were 127 fresh cases, of which 116 were indigenous. Officials said the Salem Corporation limits alone reported 75 cases.
The deceased include a 48-year-old woman who was brought dead to Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital (GMKMCH) on Thursday and a 65-year-old doctor of a private hospital in Tirupattur. The doctor had severe lung ailments and was admitted to GMKMCH on Thursday, health officials said. The swab sample of the woman was collected and it tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday.
As for those shown as imported cases, seven had come from other districts such as Namakkal, Krishnagiri, Kallakurichi, Tirupattur and Villupuram. Four patients had come from Mumbai, Bengaluru and Gujarat.
With two staff at the Salem Collectorate testing positive on Thursday, their office and adjacent offices in the building were closed. District Collector S.A. Raman said the Collectorate premises would be disinfected over the weekend.
Namakkal district had two new cases. One was a 45-year-old man working at a bank in Aravakurichi and the other a 16-year-old girl from Kumarapalayam who had travelled to Madurai.
43 cases in Coimbatore
Coimbatore district saw 43 new cases on Friday, out of which 13 were employees of a gold jewellery showroom on 100 Feet Road in the city.
Sources in the Health Department said that a total of 15 employees of the showroom of a Kerala-based jewellery chain had tested positive.
On Thursday, the showroom was closed for disinfection after two employees tested positive. Efforts to trace the source of their infection are under way, the sources said.
Bank branch closed
Tiruppur district saw 24 new cases – 18 men and six women -- on Friday. Three of the men were from one apartment complex in Tiruppur Corporation limits.
On Friday, the district saw its second imported case --a 41-year-old man who travelled from Bihar to Bengaluru by train and then to Tiruppur by road on July 5. Of the 288 cases so far in Tiruppur district, this is only the second imported case. The rest are indigenous.
Among the new cases was a 28-year-old man working as an electrician in State Bank of India’s branch on Uthukuli Road in Tiruppur Corporation limits. The bank branch was closed for disinfection on Friday.
16 cases in Erode
Erode district saw 16 new cases, of which 12 were reported in Erode Corporation limits, two from Chennimalai and one each from Perundurai and Modakurichi blocks, official said.
Meanwhile, swab samples were taken from 580 LPG cylinder delivery men of various oil marketing companies at the District Headquarters and Hospital and block Primary Health Centres in the district.
The Nilgiris reported 10 new cases on Friday.
In Dharmapuri, 14 persons tested positive on Friday. They included two girls aged 11 and 14, and three boys aged seven, 15 and 17.
One of the infected persons was a contact of a 45-year-old man who died of COVID-19. The man from Hosur suffered complications from hypertension at the hospital on Wednesday night.
Three persons, including a three-year-old girl, tested positive in Krishnagiri district. The others were a 24-year-old woman and a 19-year-old medical student studying in Puducherry.
The medico had visited Puducherry to collect his belongings.
He was tested there and the results were sent to him on Thursday.
Gym shut
The gymnasium in which he worked out was closed after he tested positive.
The swab sample of a 45-year-old mechanic of a leading company here was sent for testing after he had collapsed at the firm’s premises.
