The Union Territory on Saturday recorded two COVID-19 deaths and 272 new cases. According to the Health Department while an 87-year-old succumbed to the virus at MGMCRI here, another 72-year-old person died at the general hospital in Karaikal. Both of them had co-morbidities, the Department said.
With the latest deaths, the toll due to COVID-19 has gone up to 689. Puducherry region alone accounted for 555 deaths, the data said.
As many as 272 persons tested positive during the last 24 hours, ending at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Of the total new cases, 187 are from the Puducherry region and the remaining from the enclaves. The new cases were detected from 3,821 tests conducted during the time, the Health Department said.
The spike in cases witnessed during the last two weeks had taken the number of persons currently undergoing treatment for the novel coronavirus to 2,218 in the Union Territory.
As on Saturday, there are 1,689 persons under home isolation and 529 at various government hospitals.
The Department has decided to increase testing in the coming days. Starting on Sunday, mass testing would be done at 100 places in the Union Territory. Since the outbreak of the pandemic, 6,96,561 persons have been screened for the virus in the Union Territory.
The Health Department has also decided to intensify contact tracing.
