Tamil Nadu, for the second consecutive day, reported more than 500 cases of COVID-19, taking its tally beyond the 4,000-mark on Tuesday.
Of the 508 fresh cases, Chennai reported its highest single-day spike of 279 cases, with a large number linked to the Koyambedu cluster.
On May 3, the State’s tally crossed the 3,000-mark. After two successive days of reporting more than 500 cases, the total number of cases in the State climbed to 4,058*. Chennai’s total increased to 2,008, of which 1,668 were active cases; 319 patients have been discharged and 20 had died.
The State reported two more deaths due to COVID-19, taking the toll to 33. A 56-year-old man, admitted to the Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on April 26, died at 6.20 p.m. on May 4. He had co-morbidities. The second person — a 60-year-old woman — was admitted to the hospital on May 2 and died at 9.30 a.m. on May 4. Her samples returned positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Both were residents of Chennai.
A highlight of the day’s figures was that all 508 — 353 men, 154 women and a transgender — were contacts of COVID-19-positive persons. More districts reported these cases, signalling the spread of the Koyambedu cluster. Districts such as Cuddalore, Chengalpattu, Kallakurichi and Villupuram witnessed a spurt in cases.
There were 68 cases in Cuddalore, 38 each in Chengalpattu and Kallakurichi, 25 in Villupuram, 18 in Tiruvallur, 15 in Namakkal, seven in Dindigul, five in Theni, four in the Nilgiris, two in Krishnagiri, and one each in Dharmapuri, Kancheepuram, Madurai, Perambalur, Salem, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Tiruchi and Virudhunagar. With this, Cuddalore’s total climbed to 229, while Chengalpattu had 136 cases.
A further 23 children aged 0 to 12 have tested positive. This included three one-year-old children in Chengalpattu and Chennai. An equal number of 60-plus persons have tested positive among the fresh cases reported today. This included three octogenarians - an 88-year-old woman in Chennai, an 84-year-old man in Chengalpattu and an 80-year-old woman in Chennai.
Another 76 persons were discharged from hospitals. With this, a total of 1,485 have walked out of hospitals after treatment in the State. There are 2,537 active cases in T.N. A total of 3,198 persons suspected to have symptoms of COVID-19 are admitted to isolation wards.
At KMC, a total of 24 asymptomatic patients, who were willing, were sent to home quarantine.
With 11,858 samples tested, the State has so far tested 1,74,828 samples. A total of 1,65,191 individuals have been tested till now. Two more private laboratories have been approved - Doctors Diagnostics Centre, Tiruchi and Kovai Medical Centre and Hospital, Coimbatore. There are a total of 52 testing facilities in the State.
(* This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)
