The daily COVID-19 case count touched a new high in Tamil Nadu on Sunday, with 3,940 persons, including 179 returnees, testing positive for the disease. An 18-month-old baby and a 17-year-old teenager were among the dead, while 1,443 patients were discharged post recovery.
A total of 31,505 persons were tested for the infection on Sunday. The number of active cases (including those in isolation) stands at 35,656. As of Sunday, the total number of people who had tested positive was 82,275*.
As many as 45,547, constituting 55% of those who contracted the disease, had been cured and discharged, health officials said.
Chennai’s count
In Chennai, the daily case count rose to 1,992, taking the total number of positive cases in the city to 53,762. However, around 60% of those who had been infected had been cured and discharged, according to the health bulletin released by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
As of Sunday, 31,858 people had been discharged after treatment. The number of active cases is 21,094.
The case count was in triple digits in a handful of districts. Chengalpattu (183), Madurai (284), Kallakurichi (124) and Tiruvannamalai (114) recorded the most number of cases in the State on Sunday.
Chennai continues to account for the largest number of deaths due to COVID-19. Till Sunday, 809 deaths had been recorded in the city, followed by 80 in Chengalpattu and 61 in Tiruvallur.
Three passengers from Malaysia and one from the Maldives were among the returnees who had tested positive.
A one-and-a-half-year-old boy from Tindivanam, who was admitted to the Villupuram Government Medical College and Hospital (VGMCH) on Friday, died on Sunday. According to the Health Department, the baby was hospitalised after developing breathing problems. His swab samples were lifted and the results returned positive. He died around 1 a.m. on Sunday.
Hospital dean Kundavi Devi said the baby’s brain had not developed fully, and he died due to aspiration. “Coincidentally, the test results returned positive,” she added.
However, the DPH’s statistics had recorded the baby’s death among those who had died due to the infection but had no co-morbidities.
Of the 54 persons who lost their lives to COVID-19 on Sunday, eight had no co-morbidities. Ten persons died in private hospitals, while the others died in government hospitals.
Among the deceased who had no co-morbidities was a 29-year-old man, who was admitted to a private hospital in Chengalpattu on June 16 with complaints of fever for three days, cough and difficulty in breathing for two days. He had also suffered a headache for three days. He died on Sunday. Health authorities said his death was due to respiratory failure.
A 17-year-old boy from Tiruvallur, with vitamin D deficiency and hypo-parathyroidism, died at a private medical college hospital on Saturday. He was admitted to the facility on Friday with complaints of breathing difficulty for two days and a headache for three days. His death was recorded as having occurred due to type-I respiratory failure and cardiomyopathy.
(*Includes two deaths cross-notified to other States. One person died after turning negative for infection)
