Tamil Nadu witnessed a steep rise in fresh coronavirus infections as 4,862 persons tested positive on Wednesday. The sharpest rise was in Chennai where new cases were up by 66% in a day, while cases shot up in the neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram.
Chennai along with Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Tiruvallur, Vellore, Kancheepuram and Thoothukudi drove the surge in the State as cases jumped from 2,731 the previous day to 4,862.
The overall positivity rate rose from 2.6% to 4.1% as the number of daily tests were increased to 1,17,611. The fresh cases took the overall caseload so far to 27,60,449.
Chennai accounted for a little over half of the fresh cases reported in the State as 2,481 persons tested positive as against 1,489 recorded the previous day. In Chengalpattu, which recorded 290 cases on Tuesday, cases shot up to 596. There were 259 cases in Coimbatore and 209 cases in Tiruvallur.
A total of 184 persons tested positive for the infection in Vellore, while Kancheepuram and Thoothukudi recorded 127 amd 123 cases respectively. Among other districts, Kanyakumari recorded 97 cases and Tiruppur had 80 cases. Among those who tested positive for COVID-19 in the State were 38 returnees. This included 19 persons who returned from West Bengal and six travellers from the UAE.
The number of districts recording fewer than 10 cases each fell to eight. The sharp surge in new COVID-19 cases led to a substantial rise in the State’s active caseload which went up to 16,577. Chennai accounted for 7,878 active cases, while Chengalpattu and Coimbatore had 1,711 and 1,089 active cases respectively.
The State recorded nine fatalities, taking the toll to 36,814. There were no COVID-19 deaths in 34 districts. While Chennai recorded four deaths, there were three fatalities in Coimbatore and one each in Krishnagiri and Tiruppur. The number of persons discharged after treatment stood at 688, taking the total number of recoveries so far to 27,07,058.
The State’s bed occupancy stood at — 1,994 oxygen beds, 1,913 non-oxygen beds and 408 ICU beds. In Chennai, 988 oxygen-beds were occupied, while 909 non-oxygen beds and 111 ICU beds were occupied.
A total of 5,66,683 persons were vaccinated across the State on Wednesday. According to the Health department, 1,27,899 persons aged above 18 years were inoculated — 45,202 persons received the first dose and 82,697 received the second dose. A total of 4,38,784 children aged 15 to 18 years were vaccinated. With this, the first dose coverage reached 87.17%, while the second dose coverage stood at 61.12%.
