Tamil Nadu’s tally breached the seven lakh-mark on Thursday, as 3,077 more persons tested positive for COVID-19 .
The State added one lakh cases in the last 21 days. It was on October 1 that its tally surpassed the six-lakh mark. With the new cases, the State now accounts for a total of 7,00,193 infections. As many as 4,314 persons, including 1,077 in Chennai, were discharged on Thursday. This took the total number of persons discharged so far to 6,55,170.
Another 45 persons — 25 in government hospitals and 20 in private facilities — succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 10,825. This included 13 deaths in Chennai, five in Salem and four each in Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur. A majority of them — 17 persons — were in their 60s.
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Two of the deceased, who were in their 50s, did not have co-morbidities. A 55-year-old man from Tiruppur was admitted to a government hospital with complaints of fever and difficulty in breathing, for eight days, on October 13. He died on October 20 due to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) and COVID-19 pneumonia. The second patient, a 53-year-old from Madurai, was admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital on October 19. He died on October 21 due to COVID-19 pneumonia and ARDS.
Chennai accounted for 833 fresh cases, followed by Coimbatore with 285. There were 193 cases in Chengalpattu and 170 in Tiruvallur. A total of 155 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Tiruppur, while Salem saw 140 cases. Kancheepuram had 99 cases. A total of 31 districts reported less than 100 cases. Tenkasi had the least number of cases, at five, while Ariyalur and Perambalur saw seven each, and Ramanathapuram nine.
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As of date, the number of active cases in the State stands at 34,198. Of this, Chennai accounts for 11,107, followed by 3,753 in Coimbatore and 1,877 in Salem.
A total of 81,259 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 92,75,108. Three more private laboratories — the Molecular Lab, Karpagam Hospital in Coimbatore; the Macro Diagnostic Lab in R.A. Puram, Chennai and the Muthamil Hospital Molecular Lab in Tirunelveli — were approved for COVID-19 testing. There are now 197 testing facilities — 66 in the government sector and 131 private ones — in the State.