The samples of 11 more persons have tested positive for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 in Tamil Nadu, taking the total to 45. The 11 persons included international travellers and their contacts.
According to a bulletin issued by the Health Department on Tuesday, the State had 45 confirmed cases of the Omicron variant — 13 international travellers on arrival, 10 international travellers on the eighth day of testing and 19 contacts of international travellers, while three were not linked to international travellers.
As on date, 24 patients were discharged and 21 were at hospital. While two cases were cross-notified to Kerala and Puducherry, there were nine active cases in Chennai, four in Madurai, two in Tiruvannamalai and one each in Chengalpattu, Kanniyakumari, Salem and Tiruvarur.
Steady rise in Chennai
The State’s daily COVID-19 case count increased marginally from 605 on Monday to 619 on Tuesday. Chennai continued to record a steady rise as 194 persons tested positive against 172 cases the previous day.
There were 84 cases in Coimbatore, while 59 persons tested positive in Chengalpattu and 40 in Erode. There were 33 cases in Tiruppur, 29 in Salem and 22 in Tiruvallur. Five districts — Kallakurichi, Mayiladuthurai, Pudukottai, Theni and Villupuram — had no fresh case. In fact, 22 districts logged fewer than 10 fresh cases each.
Among those who tested positive were four international travellers — two from Qatar and one each from the UAE and Ukraine — and three persons from other States — two from West Bengal and one from Delhi.
The State’s overall case tally rose to 27,45,261. Another six persons succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 36,750. Chengalpattu, Chennai, Coimbatore, Dharmapuri, Erode and Sivaganga recorded one death each. While 638 persons were discharged after treatment, 6,537 persons were under treatment. Chennai had the highest number of active cases at 1,519.
A total of 1,02,826 samples were tested. This took the total number of samples tested so far to 5,71,30,470.
The inoculation of 1,80,806 persons on Tuesday took the overall coverage at government centres to 8,06,74,976. They included 1,05,394 persons aged 18-44; 49,112 persons aged 45-59; and 26,105 senior citizens.
