Tamil Nadu reported 1,174 new cases of COVID-19 and 11 deaths on Thursday. Of these, Chennai accounted for 342 cases, including two imported ones, followed by Coimbatore with 120. A majority of the remaining districts — numbering 24 — registered under 20 cases each.
With the fresh cases, Tamil Nadu’s tally touched 8,03,615. Another 1,214 persons were discharged after treatment. Till date, a total of 7,81,745 persons have been discharged from various facilities and 11,942 persons have died of the infection.
In Chengalpattu, 76 persons tested positive for COVID-19, while Tiruvallur and Salem reported 59 and 58 cases respectively. There were 50 cases in Tiruppur, 47 in Erode and 41 in Kancheepuram. The least number of cases were reported in Ariyalur and Perambalur, both recording one new case each.
Six returnees — three from Kerala and one each from Delhi, Karnataka and Jharkhand — tested positive for the infection.
As of date, 9,829 persons, including 3,054 in Chennai, 1,064 in Coimbatore, 560 in Tiruppur and 510 in Chengalpattu, are under treatment for COVID-19.
Of the fatalities, Chennai recorded four. Coimbatore, Kancheepuram, Madurai, Salem, Theni, Tiruvallur and Tiruvannamalai reported one death each. All of the deceased were aged 60 and above.
One of them — a 60-year-old from Madurai — did not have co-morbidities. He was admitted to the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on December 11, and died on December 15 due to COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure.
As many as 75,532 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, taking the total figure to 1,32,35,354.
One more private laboratory — the Gem Laboratory in Chennai — was approved for COVID-19 testing. There are now a total of 233 testing facilities in the State — 67 government laboratories and 166 in the private sector.
