Tamil Nadu on Friday saw a dip in fresh infections as the day’s count dropped under 1,400, with 1,391 more persons, including four returnees, testing positive for COVID-19. Fifteen persons succumbed to the infection, taking the State’s toll to 11,762, and its tally touched 7,87,554.
As many as 1,426 persons, including 452 in Chennai, were discharged after treatment. Till date, 7,64,854 persons have been discharged from various facilities. The number of active cases stood at 10,938, of which Chennai accounted for 3,451.
In Chennai, 356 persons tested positive for COVID-19, taking the city’s tally to 2,16,867. Coimbatore recorded 139 cases, while Chengalpattu saw 85 and Salem 75. There were 66 cases in Tiruvallur and 61 in Tiruppur. The remaining 31 districts saw under 50 cases each.
“The incidence of COVID-19 is definitely coming down. Our current sample size is around 70,000 and the positivity rate has reduced drastically. The fatality rate too has reduced,” a health official said. The number of persons reporting with Influenza-Like Illness had come down as well. “We are sustaining our control measures and the Health Department’s surveillance remains strong. People should be careful and not turn complacent, even as cases are decreasing. They should wear masks, adhere to physical distancing norms and follow hand hygiene. It is important to remain cautious. There is awareness, but we need behavioural change among people to bring these into practice,” he said.
Of the 15 deceased, eight died in private hospitals. There were four deaths in Chennai, two each in Chengalpattu, Erode, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, and one each in Coimbatore, Tiruvannamalai and Tiruvarur.
Among those who died was a 35-year-old man from Chennai, with seizure disorder and autism. He was admitted to a private hospital on November 30, with complaints of fever and difficulty in breathing, and died on December 3 due to acute respiratory distress syndrome and COVID-19 pneumonia.
A 40-year-old man from Erode, who was admitted to the Erode Medical College Hospital in Perundurai, died on December 2 due to COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure.
In the last 24 hours, 70,378 samples were tested in the State, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 1,23,34,447. Three more private laboratories — Jansons MRI Diagnostic in Erode; Rivaara Labs in Coimbatore and Shanmuga Hospital in Salem — were approved for COVID-19 testing.
