In yet another spike, Tamil Nadu recorded 688 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. The State's tally now stands at 12,448*.
Chennai witnessed a sharp increase, accounting for 552, or 80% of the fresh cases. This took its total to 7,672, of which 5,691 are active cases. The city also accounted for 58 of the 84 deaths so far in the State.
Of the 688 patients — 407 men and 281 women — 87 had returned from abroad and other States. In fact, a few persons, who were under airport quarantine, tested positive for COVID-19 during the exit screening.
Three more persons died in the State. A 64-year-old man, a resident of Tiruvallur, was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on May 15. He was suffering from carcinoma of the stomach along with hepatic metastasis and diabetes. He died on May 18 due to respiratory failure, carcinoma of the stomach and hepatic metastasis. The second patient, a 72-year-old man and a resident of Chennai, had hypothyroidism and diabetes and was referred from a private hospital to RGGGH on May 18. He died within 1.5 hours due to respiratory failure, COVID-19 positive bilateral viral pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome. The third, an 82-year-old man from Chennai, was admitted to RGGGH on May 11 and died on May 18 due to respiratory failure, acute respiratory distress syndrome and COVID-19 pneumonia.
The State’s recovery rate now stands at 39%, with a total of 4,895 persons discharged so far. This includes 489 persons who were discharged on Tuesday. There are 7,466 active cases, and 4,775 individuals suspected to have symptoms of COVID-19 are lodged in isolation wards.
While Chennai topped the table with 552 cases, Chengalpattu reported 22 more cases and Tiruvallur eight cases. There were five cases in Kancheepuram, three in Thanjavur, two each in Kanniyakumari and Ramanathapuram, and one each in Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Nagapattinam, Ranipet, Theni, Thoothukudi and Tiruchi.
Twenty-three persons, who arrived on a flight from Dubai on Monday, and one person who returned from the Maldives, have tested positive for COVID-19. Another 13 persons, who arrived by flights from Dubai, Kuwait and Malaysia and were in airport quarantine, tested positive during the exit test conducted on Tuesday. Earlier, they had tested negative for the infection.
Till now, 54 persons who returned from other countries have tested positive, while 18 passengers, who initially tested negative, turned positive for COVID-19 during exit screening after seven days.
Apart from this 49 persons, who arrived in various parts of the State from Maharashtra, and one person from Kerala, have also tested positive. Of the 49 persons, 20 tested positive in Tirunelveli, 10 in Kallakurichi, six in Karur, five in Thoothukudi, two each in Dindigul, Kanyakumari and Tenkasi, and one each in Cuddalore and Virudhunagar.
Another 38 children aged 0 to 12 and 63 persons aged above 60 have tested positive in the State. The number of samples tested stood at 10,333, while the number of persons tested was 9,844. The total number of samples tested so far in the State is 3,48,174. Two more testing facilities were approved - the Government District Headquarters Hospital, Namakkal and VRR Diagnostics, Chennai. With this, there are 63 testing facilities in the State.
Among those who had returned to the State in trains, the samples of 713 passengers is under process.
(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)
