TN records 1,366 new COVID-19 cases,15 fatalities

Tamil Nadu on Saturday reported 1,366 new COVID-19 cases, taking the overall infection count to 7,88,920, while 15 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 11,777. As many as 1,407 people were discharged from healthcare facilities after getting cured, taking the aggregate to 7,66,261, a health department bulletin said.

The number of active cases stood at 10,882. Two districts, including the State capital, logged cases in triple digits with Chennai adding 353 and Coimbatore 137, while the rest were scattered across other districts.

Chennai continued to top the list of cases with 2,17,204 infections out of more than 7.88 lakh in the state. The state capital also topped in the number of fatalities, accounting for 3,871 of the total.

Eight districts have added new cases in single digits, while 27 districts reported zero fatalities. A total of 70,881 samples were tested on Saturday, taking the cumulative total to 1,24,05,328 specimens examined so far.

Tamil Nadu does not use Rapid Antigen Diagnostic Tests (RADT) and all tests are RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction based). Of the 15 fatalities reported, eight succumbed in private hospitals while seven in government.

All the deceased had co-morbidities, the bulletin said. A 34-year-old man from Chennai ailing from tuberculosis was one of the youngest victims due to COVID-19 Pneumonia.

Two of those who tested positive were returnees from other states. Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh health education minister Vishvas Sarang met Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar and health secretary K Radhakrishnan and congratulated the government for taking various preventive measures in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in the State.

The Minister also visited health care facilities and during his discussion with his Tamil Nadu counterpart sought a knowledge-sharing collaboration with the Tamil Nadu Medical University. "This is my knowledge sharing visit. I congratulate the Chief Minister (K Palaniswami) and health minister (C Vijayabhaskar) of Tamil Nadu. Tamil Nadu is doing a very good job in health services.

During the COVID-19 period, the Tamil Nadu government has done a very good job and has created very good facilities," he told reporters. "I also visited the Medical University of Tamil Nadu. I request the Chief Minister and Health Minister for some collaboration with this university," he said.

Earlier, Vijayabhaskar said the government has taken various precautionary measures in controlling the spread of the virus in the wake of cyclone 'Nivar' and 'Burevi' crossing the eastern coast of the State. "We have conducted 8,456 health camps (in flood-affected districts) and 435 medical teams conducted 3,687 medical camps.

We have screened 2.86 lakh people to date," he said. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said the government has set up mobile hospitals and was conducting various health camps to check the virus spread.