TN reports 4,244 COVID-19 cases, 68 fatalities

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Chennai, July 12 (): After a lull, COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu shot past the 4,000 mark on Sunday, pushing the cumulative tally in excess of 1.38 lakh, with the death count nearing 2,000.

According to a health department bulletin, 4,244 fresh infections were reported on Sunday, taking the tally to 1,38,470.

As many as 68 fatalities pushed the death count to 1,966.

Tamil Nadu had reported 4,343 cases on July 2, 4,329 on July 3 and 4,280 on July 4.

The recoveries were significant, with 3,617 people being discharged after treatment.

Cumulatively, 89,532 patients have been cured so far, leaving 46,969 active cases, including those in isolation.

A total of 16,09,448 samples have been tested till date, of which 42,531 were on Sunday alone, it said.

Chennai continued to witness a downward trend of cases, with the city reporting 1,168 infections on Sunday.

The virus count stood at 1,185 on Saturday.

According to the bulletin, 34 of those who contracted the contagion were returnees from various places to the state.

Besides Chennai, other districts continued to record high number of cases with Kancheepuram reporting 385 new cases, Madurai 319, Virudhunagar 246, Chengalpet 245, Thiruvallur 232, Vellore and Thiruvannamalai 151 each, Tuticorin 136, Tirunelveli 131, Coimbatore 117, Theni 115, Kanyakumari 104, the bulletin said.

Among the fatalities, eight of the 68 were without comorbidities.

A 31-year-old man from neighbouring Chengalpet was among the victims who had tested COVID-19 positive without comorbidities.

He died due to cardio respiratory arrest, the bulletin said.

With comorbidities condition, an 85-year-old man from the city with Type 2 diabetes breathed his last due to cardiopulmonary arrest, while a 33-year-old man from Erode, also suffering from Type 2 Diabetes, died due to respiratory failure, the bulletin said.

The state capital topped in the list in the number of deaths with 1,253 people succumbing to the virus so far, followed by Chengalpet at 158, Thiruvallur 127, Madurai 116.

With a focus on enhancing the testing facilities, the government on Sunday gave its nod to three more private laboratories to conduct COVID-19 tests, taking the total number of centres in the state to 105, which include 53 government operated ones. VIJ SA APR RAVINDRANATH APR RAVINDRANATH