After staying below the 700-mark for 20 days, fresh coronavirus infections surged in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday. A total of 739 people tested positive for COVID-19, with Chennai recording the biggest jump, from 194 cases on Tuesday to 294 on Wednesday.
Daily COVID-19 cases dropped below 700 on December 9, when the State logged 698 cases. From 619 cases on Tuesday, the fresh cases rose to 739, taking the tally so far to 27,46,000.
Meanwhile, the sample of another person, a contact of an international traveller, tested positive for the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2. With this, the total number of confirmed cases of the Omicron variant stood at 46, of whom 27 patients were discharged, 17 were in hospitals and two were cross-notified to Kerala and Puducherry.
With cases steadily going up in Chennai, there was a small rise in fresh cases in the neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. While there were 64 cases in Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur logged 31 and 33 cases, respectively.
In Coimbatore, 78 people tested positive for the infection, while there were 34 cases in Erode, 28 in Salem and 24 in Tiruppur. While three districts — Kallakurichi, Mayiladuthurai and Tenkasi — had no fresh case, 21 districts logged fewer than 10 cases each.
Five returnees from the UAE and six from other States were among those who tested positive.
The State reported eight more deaths, taking the toll to 36,758. There were no COVID-19 deaths in 32 districts.
Another 614 people were discharged after treatment, taking the total recoveries so far to 27,02,588.
The State’s active caseload rose to 6,654.
As many as 1,03,897 samples were tested, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 5,72,34,367.
Three private laboratories — Anderson Diagnostics and Labs, Coimbatore, Life Care Diagnostic Centre, Dharmapuri and Rao’s Pathlab, Tiruchi — were approved for COVID-19 testing.
Another 1,53,247 people were vaccinated against COVID-19, taking the overall coverage of government vaccination centres to 8,08,28,223.
