Fresh COVID-19 cases continued to fall gradually in Tamil Nadu — 1,578 people tested positive in the State on Saturday.
With Erode’s daily count dropping below 100 after months, only three districts — Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpattu — recorded 100-plus fresh infections. Chennai continued to account for the most number of cases, with 188 people testing positive.
Coimbatore, where cases continued to marginally drop, followed with 163 cases, while Chengalpattu recorded 107. There were 95 cases in Erode and 94 in Thanjavur.
With this, the State’s tally touched 26,66,964. Another 24 people (eight in private hospitals and 16 in government facilities) succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 35,627. As many as 14 districts recorded fatalities. These included Chennai, where five people died, and Kancheepuram that logged three deaths. There was no death in Coimbatore and Erode.
Another 1,607 people were discharged after treatment, taking the total figure to 26,14,291. At present, there are 17,046 active cases in the State. Coimbatore’s active caseload fell below 2,000 — 1,990 people are undergoing treatment in the district. As many as 1,937 people are under treatment for COVID-19 in Chennai. Erode and Chengalpattu have 1,151 and 1,096 active cases respectively.
As many as 1,51,855 samples were tested, taking the total count to 4,72,99,526.
Vaccination update
A total of 1,20,433 people were inoculated on Saturday, taking the coverage in government centres to 4,54,27,548.
Those who got the jabs included 75,417 people in the 18-44 age group and 33,214 people aged 45 to 59.
Vaccination was held in 2,577 sessions. The cumulative coverage in private vaccination centres stood at 25,21,688.
