Puducherry recorded its third COVID-19 fatality with the death of an 82-year-old patient at the IGMCRI. The patient, from Mudaliarpet, had an acute cardiac condition apart from other health issues. Six new COVID-19 cases, including a 14-year-old girl in Karaikal, were reported on Friday.
“The three others in the family which had returned from Chennai, have tested negative,” Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao said.
He attributed the increase in cases to a combination of more relaxations, failure to comply with self protection norms, gaps in reporting details to authorities to help contact tracing and poor patronage to the Aarogya Setu app.
Though new cases are being reported every day, there is adequate reserve bed strength at IGMCRI, Jipmer and private medical colleges. “In future, asymptomatic COVID-19 patients can be quarantined at their homes. A team could visit such patients at their sites to monitor their health,” he said.
Prashant Kumar Panda, Health Secretary, said that notwithstanding availability of health facilities, public support was vital to stop the pandemic spread.
S Mohan Kumar, Health Director, said that some of the new cases admitted to the hospitals were from suburban or rural areas such as Kombakkam, Katterikuppam. The Mariamman Koil Street in Mannadipet, Teachers Colony in Arumbarthapuram and Dhanakodi IVth Cross Street, Dharmapuri have been designated containment zones.
The COVID-19 tally in the UT is three deaths, 84 active cases (one in Karaikal, four in Mahe), with a cumulative total of 163 and 76 discharged.
