A total of 5,679 persons tested positive for COVID-19 on Friday and the deaths of 72 persons were recorded in Tamil Nadu. Of the fresh cases, Chennai reported a rise in cases for the second consecutive day with 1,193 persons testing positive for the infection followed by 661 persons in Coimbatore.
The new cases took the State’s overall tally to 5,69,370. Of this, 46,386 were active cases. Another 5,626 persons were discharged following treatment on Friday. Till date, a total of 5,13,836 persons were discharged. The toll climbed to 9,148.
Of the 72 fatalities (37 in government and 35 in private hospitals), Chennai accounted for 18 deaths, while Salem reported eight deaths. Seven persons died in Vellore and six persons succumbed to the infection in Coimbatore.
Among them was a 45-year-old woman from Chennai who tested positive for COVID-19 on September 23 and was admitted to a private hospital. She had no co-morbidities. She died on the next day due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Two nonagenarians also succumbed to COVID-19. One of them - a 93-year-old man from Chennai - had bronchial asthma and was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on September 17. He died on September 23 due to COVID-19 pneumonia, respiratory failure and bronchial asthma. A total of 27 persons were aged in their 60s, while 17 of them were aged in their 70s.
NEW CASES: As Chennai’s daily count crossed 1,000 for the second day in a row, the city’s overall tally stood at 1,60,926. A total of 10,000 persons were under treatment in the city. Coimbatore saw its tally rise to 29,057. Salem recorded 297 cases, while Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur had 277 and 229 cases respectively. Cuddalore reported 235 cases.
The cases continued to remain high in many of the northern districts. Tiruvannamalai had 173 cases, while Villupuram had 162 cases. Kancheepuram had 165 cases. Among other districts, Erode had 151 cases, Dharmapuri had 148 cases, Tiruppur had 158 cases and Nilgiris had 137 cases. Vellore, Tiruchi, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur, Namakkal and Krishnagiri also had 100-plus cases. With the new cases, Tiruchi’s overall case count crossed 10,000.
A total of 94,877 samples were tested in the last 24 hours in the State. Till date, Tamil Nadu has tested a total of 69,10,521 samples. Four more private laboratories were approved for conducting COVID-19 tests - Bhaarath Medical College and Hospital, Kancheepuram, Hicare Lab, Adambakkam, Chennai, Ganga Laboratory, unit of Ganga Medical Centre, Coimbatore and Laboratory Services, Sri Kumaran Hospital, Tiruchi. With this, there are a total of 116 COVID-19 testing facilities in the private sector and 66 in the government sector.
