Pondy clocks over 1,100 fresh cases, tally rises to 1,33,866

The union territory of Puducherry continued to witness a spike in the number of fresh coronavirus cases with 1,107 infections being added in the last 24 hours as the overall tally rose to 1,33,866, a senior health department official said on Thursday.

Director of Health and Family Welfare Services G Sriramulu said in a release that the 1,107 new cases were identified at the end of the examination of 4,187 samples and were spread over Puducherry (956), Karaikal (126), Mahe (18) and Yanam (7).

He said the test positivity rate was 26.44 per cent while the fatality and recovery rates were 1.41 per cent and 95.40 per cent respectively.

As many as 40 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours ending 10 am Thursday as the overall recoveries climbed to 1,27,713.

The health department has so far tested 20,83,360 samples and has found 17,68,424 out of them to be negative, he said.

Sriramulu said the number of active cases stood at 4,270 which included 167 patients in hospitals and 4,103 in home isolation. There was no fresh fatality during the last 24 hours and the death toll remained at 1,883.

Sriramulu said that the department has so far administered 14,91,798 doses of the vaccine which comprised 9,03,845 first doses, 5,86.589 second and 1,364 precaution doses.

Meanwhile, the Chief Secretary of the Puducherry government Ashwani Kumar tested positive for Covid-19 at the end of the examination of swabs on Wednesday.

A spokesman of the Health Department told PTI that Ashwani Kumar, an IAS officer of AGMUT cadre, was in home isolation. He had taken two doses of the vaccine.

Also, former Chief Minister and senior Congress leader V Narayanasamy had a precaution dose on Thursday at the Government General Hospital here.