For the third day in a row, Tamil Nadu reported under 500 fresh cases of COVID-19. A total of 477 persons tested positive for the infection on Saturday, taking the State’s tally to 8,41,326.
Of the fresh cases, Chennai reported 156, followed by Coimbatore (65) and Chengalpattu (36). There were 26 cases in Tiruvallur and 20 in Erode.
Except Perambalur, which reported no new case, the remaining districts saw fewer than 20 cases each. Of these, seven districts — Ariyalur, Krishnagiri, Namakkal, Ranipet, Tenkasi, Tirupattur and Thoothukudi — reported just one case each.
Six returnees — four from Karnataka and one each from Kerala and Telangana — also tested positive.
Three persons succumbed to the infection — one each in Chennai, Cuddalore and Madurai. Till date, 12,382 persons have died.
A 51-year-old man from Madurai with diabetes and hypertension was admitted to a private hospital on January 21 with complaints of fever for eight days, cough for five days and difficulty in breathing for a day. He died on February 5 due to COVID-19 pneumonia.
Another 503 persons were discharged after treatment, taking the total figure to 8,24,527. As many as 4,417 persons are presently under treatment. This includes 1,567 persons in Chennai, 474 in Coimbatore and 297 in Chengalpattu. As of Saturday, Chennai’s tally stood at 2,32,168, followed by Coimbatore (54,753) and Chengalpattu (51,764).
In the last 24 hours, 53,256 samples were tested in the State, taking the total figure to 1,63,34,713.
Two more returnees from the U.K. tested positive for COVID-19. Till date, 29 returnees and 20 contacts have tested positive. Three returnees are presently undergoing treatment in isolation wards, while the remaining 26 primary and 20 contacts who had tested positive have tested negative during follow-up testing and have been discharged. They are under home quarantine, according to a Health Department bulletin.
The samples were sent for whole genome sequencing for the U.K. variant.
