Chennai and its neighbouring districts — Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram — accounted for almost half of the 6,711 new COVID-19 cases reported in the State on Monday.
The State reported over 6,000 cases for a second consecutive day, taking the aggregate to 9,40,145. The number of active cases surged past 45,000 to 46,308, of which Chennai accounted for 17,098, followed by 4,378 in Coimbatore and 4,085 in Chengalpattu. In Chennai, 2,105 people tested positive for the infection. The city’s neighbouring districts continued to record a surge — Chengalpattu had 611 cases, Tiruvallur 333 and Kancheepuram 277. Coimbatore reported 604 cases, while there were 219 in Madurai. A total of 10 districts reported 100-plus cases. This included Tiruchi (184), Tiruppur (160) and Salem (158).
A total of 19 persons — 11 in private hospitals and eight in government facilities — succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 12,927. Of these, Chennai recorded eight deaths, while Chengalpattu, Nagapattinam, Tiruvallur and Tiruchi saw two deaths each.
The deceased included a 35-year-old man from Chennai with newly diagnosed diabetes. He was admitted to the Government Stanley Medical College Hospital on April 7 and died on April 10 due to COVID-19 pneumonia, respiratory failure and acute encephalopathy.
A total of 2,339 people were discharged after treatment. This included 710 people in Chennai.
In the last 24 hours, 82,982 samples were tested, taking the total figure to 2,06,03,108. One more private laboratory — the Huma Specialists Hospital and Research Centre in Chennai — was recently approved for COVID-19 testing. There are now 69 government testing facilities and 193 private ones in the State.
