CHENNAI: TN reported 1,608 fresh cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, a drop after four days, and 22 more deaths. The state’s case tally is now 26.33 lakh and death toll 35,168 -- third highest in the country after Maharashtra (1,38,142) and Karnataka (37,504).
TN's average test positivity rate (TPR) remained below 1% till Saturday. However, in the last four days, the number of samples screened daily has gradually decreased from 1.6 lakh to 1.5 lakh.
Thanjavur once again topped the state TPR chart with 2% of samples testing positive. On Sunday, another 115 patients got infected and as a result, the number of active cases in the central district has shot up to 950.
Coimbatore, which continued to report the highest number of fresh cases (212), had a TPR of 2%. Erode, where the TPR has increased significantly from 1.1 % last week to 1.6% now, reported 160 new cases.
During this time period, the number of samples tested daily in Chennai declined from 22,000 to 20,000 and TPR remained below 1%. The district had 197 fresh cases. Similarly, in the neighbouring district of Chengalpet (113 new cases), the TPR was unchanged at 1.3%.
Among those who died on Sunday, 20 of them had comorbidities such as diabetes or hypertension and only three were aged below 50. TN's case fatality ratio has hovered around 1.3% for the past four weeks.
A recovery rate of 98% during these weeks has helped TN to reduce the number of active cases gradually. At present, 16,473 patients are undergoing treatment at hospitals or their homes. This was above 20,000 on the same day last month. TN's active case ratio is 0.6%.
