Fresh cases of COVID-19 were reported in 35 districts across the State on Friday, with Ariyalur and Perambalur being the only exceptions. While Chennai recorded 2,082 of the 4,329 fresh infections, the other districts accounted for 2,182 cases, including 65 returnees.
The city reported 2,000-plus cases for the fifth consecutive day, taking its overall tally to 64,689.
Infections continued to surge in a number of districts, specifically Chengalpattu, Madurai, Tiruvallur, Tiruvannamalai, Vellore, Kancheepuram and Theni. Chengalpattu recorded a new high with 330 fresh cases, followed by Madurai (287) and Tiruvallur 172. There were 145 cases in Tiruvannamalai, 144 in Vellore, 126 in Theni, 121 in Kancheepuram, 99 in Salem, 90 in Ranipet, 85 in Kallakurichi, 73 in Ramanathapuram, 65 in Virudhunagar, 54 in Kanniyakumari and 53 in Sivaganga. With 32 new cases, Villupuram joined the list of districts with more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases.
Sixty-four persons succumbed to the infection, including 42 in government hospitals and 22 in private hospitals. As many as 33 of these deaths occurred in Chennai, nine in Chengalpattu and eight in Madurai. This took the overall death toll to 1,385.
A 27-year-old man from Kancheepuram was admitted to the Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital on June 30. He had no co-morbidities and tested positive for COVID-19. He died on July 1 due to respiratory failure and viral pneumonia.
A 29-year-old woman with chronic kidney disease (stage V) and systemic hypertension was admitted to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital on June 22. She died on July 2 due to factors including respiratory hyperkalemia, refractory metabolic acidosis, internal jugular vein catheter related sepsis and cardiogenic shock.
A 35-year-old man admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate died on July 2 including due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, acute respiratory failure, COVID-19 pneumonia and morbid obesity.
A 84-year-old man from Chennai was declared brought dead at the Government Royapettah Hospital on July 1. His swab returned positive for COVID-19 on July 2. His death was due to viral pneumonia and COVID-19.
With this, Chennai accounts for the highest number of fatalities at 996 followed by 106 in Chengalpattu, 82 in Tiruvallur and 51 in Madurai.
On Friday, another 2,357 persons were discharged from hospitals across the State. They included 1,164 in Chennai, 145 in Tiruvallur and 140 in Tiruvannamalai.
As on date, a total of 23,581 persons are undergoing treatment in Chennai, followed by 2,919 in Chengalpattu, 2,405 in Madurai and 1,468 in Tiruvallur.
During the last 24 hours, a total of 35,028 samples were tested in the State, taking the overall figure to 12,70,720. A total of 12,13,891 individuals have been tested in T.N. so far, including 34,242 in the last 24 hours.
More beds
The number of children under 12 testing positive for COVID-19 is on the rise. As of date, a total of 5,053 children have tested positive, while 12,363 persons aged above 60 have contracted the infection.
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said that already, 400 beds had been allotted to COVID-19 patients at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital. “This has been increased to 800 beds now. Work on increasing them further to 1,200 has begun,” he said, after inspecting the facilities at the hospital on Friday. He added that work to install oxygen lines at government hospitals had been taken up on a war-footing through the Public Works Department. “About 30% of patients with moderate and severe symptoms at tertiary care centres are requiring oxygen. Every hospital will have 40 KL oxygen tanks and we are making arrangements for liquid oxygen. In this, one litre of liquid oxygen gets converted into 800 litres of gas,” he said. More than ventilators, there was a high need for oxygen, he added.
