Tamil Nadu recorded an all-time high of 1,982 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, taking its tally past the 40,000-mark.
For the third consecutive day, 1,000-plus persons were discharged from hospitals, while 18 more persons succumbed to the infection.
Even as the State’s total count increased to 40,698*, the number of recoveries continued to exceed the the number of active cases in Tamil Nadu.
While 22,047 persons have been discharged so far, including 1,342 persons on Friday, 18,281 persons are under treatment. With a total of 367 deaths, the State’s mortality rate stands at 0.9%.
Chennai accounted for more than 70% of the fresh cases. Adding 1,479 cases, the city’s tally rose to 28,924.
In fact, Friday marked the highest number of samples to be tested on a single day. With 18,231 samples, the total number of samples tested so far increased to 6,73,906.
Deaths in State
Of the 18 persons who died, 17 had co-morbid conditions. While 10 persons died in government hospitals, eight died in private hospitals.
A 38-year-old man from Chennai was admitted to a private hospital on May 30 with complaints of fever and cough for three days and difficulty in breathing for two days.
He died on June 11 due to respiratory failure and septic shock with multi-organ dysfunction syndrome.
A 40-year-old woman with diabetes was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on June 9.
Her samples returned positive for COVID-19 on June 11 and she died on the same day due to cardiopulmonary arrest, bilateral pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome and respiratory failure.
Another 40-year-old man from Chengalpattu was admitted to the Chengalpattu Medical College Hospital on June 9.
A diabetic, he died the next day due to respiratory failure, acute pneumonia, uncontrolled diabetes and systemic hypertension.
At least 30 districts in the State reported fresh cases. Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur continued to lead the table after Chennai. With 128 more cases, Chengalpattu’s tally crossed the 2,500-mark. Tiruvallur reported 92 cases, taking its tally to 1,752.
Other districts
There were 31 cases in Madurai, 26 in Kancheepuram, 22 in Tiruvannamalai, 18 in Thoothukudi, 16 in Villupuram and 15 in Tirunelveli.
Among the fresh cases, 49 persons had returned from abroad and other States. This included seven persons from Qatar, 15 from Maharashtra and 19 from Delhi.
Till date, a total of 2,097 children aged between 0 and 12 years and 4,559 persons aged above 60 have tested positive for the infection in the State.
One more government laboratory was approved for COVID-19 testing — the Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine, Chennai — was approved for COVID-19 testing. With this, there are a total of 78 testing facilities — 45 in the government and 33 in the private sector — in the State.
(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)
