Tamil Nadu’s active case load surpassed two lakh as another 33,658 people tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday. The State recorded a high number of fatalities with 303 people succumbing to the infection.
Fresh infections continued to surge across the State with cases rising significantly in a number of districts. The State’s tally rose to 15,65,035, including 2,07,789 active cases, 13,39,887 people discharged and 17,359 deaths.
In Chennai, a total of 6,640 people tested positive for COVID-19 and 82 people died. There were 3,124 cases and 20 deaths in Coimbatore, while Chengalpattu recorded 2,013 cases and 24 deaths. In Tiruvallur, 1,551 people tested positive and 22 died.
Five other districts had 1,000-plus cases — Kancheepuram (1,521), Kanniyakumari (1,237), Madurai (1,231), Tiruppur (1,008) and Tiruchi (1,263).
With the fresh cases, Chennai’s tally stood at 4,32,344, while Chengalpattu and Coimbatore accounted for a total case count of 1,11,295 and 1,12,358, respectively.
There were 18 deaths in Kanniyakumari, 17 in Madurai, 12 in Salem, 11 each in Thanjavur and Tiruchi, and 10 each in Kancheepuram and Vellore.
Among the deceased were six persons in their 20s. A 22-year-old woman from Chennai, who had type 1 diabetes and chronic liver disease, was admitted to a private hospital on May 3 with complaints of loose stools for six days. She died on May 8 due to COVID-19 pneumonia. A 23-year-old woman from Krishnagiri, who had no comorbidities, died at the Dharmapuri Medical College Hospital on May 10 due to COVID-19 pneumonia. A total of 24 persons who succumbed to COVID-19 were in their 30s.
Chennai accounts for a total of 5,703 deaths, followed by Chengalpattu (1,198) and Tiruvallur (1,000).
A total of 20,905 people were discharged in 24 hours. Of the total active case load, Chennai accounted for 46,367 patients, while there were 20,173 patients in Coimbatore and 13,711 in Chengalpattu.
A total of 1,64,945 samples were tested, taking the total to 2,49,50,403.
A total of 12,590 beds — 2,697 oxygen-supported beds, 9,401 non-oxygen beds and 492 Intensive Care Unit beds — were vacant in COVID-19 hospitals and health centres across the State. Nine districts, including Salem and Vellore, had run out of ICU beds.
In Chennai, 1,107 beds were vacant, including 234 oxygen-supported beds, 864 non-oxygen beds and 9 ICU beds.
As many as 62,353 people were vaccinated on Saturday, including 34,245 people aged 45 to 59 and 17,021 senior citizens. This took the coverage to 68,78,742.
