Though fresh COVID-19 cases remained above 100 for the third day in a row, it fell marginally to 113 on Friday from the previous day’s tally of 145. However, Chennai, which accounted for the most number of cases in the State, registered a rise in infections as 81 persons tested positive for COVID-19.
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In Chengalpattu, fresh cases fell to 11, while there were five new cases in Tiruvallur and four in Kancheepuram. There were three cases in Coimbatore, two in Tirunelveli and one each in Kanniyakumari, Krishnagiri, Tenkasi, Thanjavur, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruchi. A returnee from the UAE was among those who tested positive for COVID-19 in the State. While a total of 68 persons were discharged after treatment, the active caseload rose to 756.
In a letter to the State Health Secretary on Friday, the Union Health Secretary noted that Tamil Nadu reported an increase in weekly new cases, from 335 in the week ending May 27 to 659 in the week ending June 3, accounting for 3.13% of new cases across the country in the week ending June 3. The State has also seen an increase in positivity in the last week, from 0.4% to 0.8%, he said.
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“While analysing the district-wise COVID-19 situation, it is observed that two districts - Chennai and Chengalpattu - have recorded an increase in weekly cases and positivity, and it requires focused intervention from the State administration. While Chennai reported 308 cases from May 27 to June 2, Chengalpattu reported 253 cases. Chennai’s positivity during the period was 3.44%, while that of Chengalpattu was 3.22%,” he said.
He called for continued implementation and monitoring of necessary measures for prompt and effective management of COVID-19. The strategy of test-track-treat-vaccinate should be followed with a continued focus on COVID-19-appropriate behaviour, monitoring of clusters of new COVID-19 cases, adequate testing as per guidelines, monitoring of influenza-like illness and severe acute respiratory infection cases in all health facilities on a regular basis for detecting early warning signals of the spread of infection, genomic sequencing of prescribed samples of international passengers and collection of samples from sentinel sites and local clusters.
According to the daily bulletin issued by the Health department, 14,061 samples were tested. One government laboratory - Government Peripheral Hospital, Periyar Nagar, Chennai, and a private laboratory - Life Span Diagnostic, Chennai, were approved for COVID-19 testing.
A total of 25,046 people were vaccinated across the State on Friday, taking the coverage by government vaccination centres to 10,86,44,227.