The total number of COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu increased to 1,755*, with another 72 persons testing positive on Friday. Chennai accounted for more than 70% of the fresh cases reported, taking its total case count to 452.
Two more persons died of COVID-19 in the State. A 70-year-old woman who tested positive and was admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital, Madurai, on April 21, died at 1 a.m. on Friday. A 67-year-old man, a resident of Chennai, was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on April 14. He died at 5.45 a.m. on April 22. His samples have returned positive for COVID-19, according to statements issued by the Health Department.
With this, the State has reported a total of 22 deaths due to COVID-19. As of date, there are a total of 864 active cases in Tamil Nadu.
The number of persons being discharged from hospitals is on the rise. Friday alone saw 114 persons walk out of various hospitals across the State. This has taken the total number of persons discharged to 866.
Tamil Nadu COVID-19 update: April 24
The patients discharged include 38 patients from the Coimbatore ESI Medical College Hospital, 17 from the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital and 16 from the Karur Medical College Hospital.
Of the 72 new patients, 52, including 17 women, were in Chennai. Six of them were aged between 10 and 20.
An official of the Health Department said that patients in Chennai included six front line workers and 22 contacts of front line workers who had already tested positive for COVID-19.
As per a bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, 13 persons who have tested positive in the State are primary persons, and the department has clarified that detailed investigation was under way. The remaining were contacts of COVID-19 patients.
A total of 10 districts have reported fresh cases. Apart from Chennai, there were seven patients in Coimbatore, four in Madurai, two each in Ramanathapuram and Tiruvallur, and one each in Kancheepuram, Salem, Tenkasi, Tiruvannamalai and Virudhunagar.
A total of 6,426 samples were tested today, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 72,403. A total of 65,834 individuals, including 5,882 today, have been tested so far. A total of 1,483 samples are under process and 6,569 are repeat samples.
A total of 1,846 individuals with suspected symptoms of COVID-19 have been admitted to isolation wards. A total of 25,503 persons are under home quarantine, while only 19 are in government quarantine facilities.
Protective gear
According to officials of the Health Department, the State has a present stock of 68 lakh triple-layer masks, 5 lakh N95 masks and 3.6 lakh personal protective equipment (PPE). There are a total of 1.2 lakh RT-PCR testing kits.
These were from the original orders of the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation — 145 lakh triple-layer masks, 37 lakh N95 masks, 21 lakh PPEs and three lakh RT-PCR kits, an official added.
The Madras Medical College and the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital were part of a multi-centric trial for convalescent plasma therapy. An official said the institute was selected for the trial being conducted by the Indian Council of Medical Research. The other centres are AIIMS and the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research.
“ICMR has started recruiting for the trial, and it is yet to start at MMC. The institute has applied individually for conducting the trial of convalescent plasma therapy, for which approval from the Drug Controller General of India is awaited,” an official said.
(*This is inclusive of the two deaths cross notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)
