The Union Territory recorded 337 new COVID-19 cases and one death on Saturday.
In a virtual media briefing, Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said a 62-year-old resident of Vanarapet succumbed to the infection while undergoing treatment at Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Research Institute.
The death of one more person has taken the toll to 559.
With the latest admissions, active cases have increased to 4,719. Of the total active cases, 2,983 persons are under home isolation and the remaining 1,736 at various healthcare centres.
As on Saturday, a total of 31,233 persons got infected with the novel coronavirus and 25,955 persons have recovered, he said.
In the last 24 hours, 4,829 persons had been tested for the virus, he added.
Mr. Rao told The Hindu that 17 per cent of the population had been tested for COVID-19.
So far, 2,30,024 people had been tested, he said adding that the Cabinet meeting scheduled to be held on Monday would discuss the COVID-19 situation in detail.
“We have deployed all our manpower and financial resources for COVID-19 works. While continuing to maintain the momentum in containing the spread of COVID-19 and treatment, the government also wanted to focus on non-COVID patients who needed treatment at government health centres,” he said.
The number of non-COVID patients coming to Government General Hospital and Medical College had come down drastically due to redeployment of healthcare workers, he said.
“The Health Department is of the view that even regular patients at government hospitals are dependent on private clinics. This will be a drain on their resources,” he added.
