Coronavirus | Chennai sees spike with 94 new cases

Two deaths in city; 10 fresh cases in rest of Tamil Nadu

April 29, 2020 11:53 pm | Updated April 30, 2020 02:12 am IST - CHENNAI

Chennai: Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Traffic, Ravichandran distributes vitamin tablets to his colleagues in a bid to improve immunity against COVID-19 outbreak during the nationwide lockdown, in Chennai, Wednesday, April 29, 2020. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)(PTI29-04-2020_000108B)

Chennai: Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Traffic, Ravichandran distributes vitamin tablets to his colleagues in a bid to improve immunity against COVID-19 outbreak during the nationwide lockdown, in Chennai, Wednesday, April 29, 2020. (PTI Photo/R Senthil Kumar)(PTI29-04-2020_000108B)

The State capital saw another spike in the number of COVID-19 cases on Wednesday with 94 of the 104 new patients in Tamil Nadu coming from Chennai.

In fact, it was the second consecutive day when the number of fresh patients crossed 100.

Interactive map of confirmed coronavirus cases in India   |  State-wise tracker for coronavirus cases, deaths and testing rates 

Two persons, including a 27-year-old pregnant woman, died of COVID-19 in the city. In Karur, however, a 95-year-old woman hailing from Dindigul was discharged from hospital after making a full recovery.

Eight more children tested positive for COVID-19, taking the count in the 0-12 age group to 129 — 71 boys and 58 girls. This included a two-year-old, a three-year-old and a four-year-old child. Eleven others, aged 13 to 20 years, have also tested positive.

The State’s tally of COVID-19 cases stood at 2,162*, while the death toll increased to 27. A 65-year-old man, who was suffering from cancer, died of COVID-19 at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. He was a resident of Chennai. The pregnant woman died at the Government Kasturba Gandhi Hospital for Women and Children on April 27. Her samples returned positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday. Officials said she was married a year ago and was to give birth in mid-May.

A total of 82 persons were discharged after treatment across the State. This took the number of persons discharged to 1,210. So far, 210 persons have been discharged in Chennai followed by 121 in Coimbatore, 91 in Tiruppur, 69 in Erode and 66 in Dindigul. A total of 922 persons continue to be under treatment.

The fresh cases were reported in five districts. Apart from Chennai, there were four cases in Chengalpattu, three in Kancheepuram, two in Villupuram and one in Tiruvallur. With this, Chennai’s count has gone up to 768 cases, according to the bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

While Krishnagiri continued to be in the green zone with no positive cases, four districts — Kanniyakumari, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet and Perambalur — moved from the red zone to orange (districts that have less than 15 cases or no new cases in the last 14 days). With this, the number of districts in the orange zone increased to 11, while 25 districts continue to be in the red zone (more than 15 cases or doubling time less than four days).

The number of persons with an unlinked source of infection (primary) increased to 37 on Wednesday. Officials of the Health department said they were intensifying existing activities in Chennai Corporation areas. “The more cosmopolitan an area is, the higher the problem. Testing in Chennai is definitely on the higher side. More than 3,000 samples were sent for testing, and it is all set to double. That the city has more number of positive cases should not be a reason for fear among the public. It means we are searching for and finding more cases,” an official said.

The number of samples tested stood at 8,087, the highest so far. With this, 1,09,961 samples have been tested so far. Testing of 1,935 samples is under process and 8,886 samples are repeat samples. The number of individuals tested crossed the one lakh-mark. A total of 1,01,075 individuals, including 7,886 today, have been tested so far.

In addition to the 41 testing facilities in the State, three more laboratories in the government sector have been approved for testing COVID-19 — the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate, Sivaganga Medical College Hospital and Virudhunagar Medical College Hospital. With this, there are 33 government testing facilities and 11 in the private sector.

As on date, a total of 1,821 persons with suspected symptoms of COVID-19 are admitted to isolation facilities. A total of 30,580 persons are under home quarantine and 48 in government quarantine facilities.

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

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