Whatever little relief Tamil Nadu’s policy makers breathed on Tuesday turned out to be short-lived as the number of coronavirus cases shot up again in the State by Wednesday. According to the medical bulletin released by the Tamil Nadu Government on Wednesday, 3,756 persons were diagnosed with Covid-19 during the last 24 hours with Chennai alone accounting for 1,261 cases. There was a marginal fall in the number of persons tested on Tuesday which had given some relief to the administrators.
But it was back to square one again by Wednesday with most of the districts registering higher number of cases. The day saw 64 persons succumbing to the pandemic across the State.
Tamil Nadu has till date tested 1.22 lakh persons positive for Covid-19. By Wednesday evening, the State has 46,480 registered active coronavirus patients undergoing treatment in the hospitals. Till date, 74,167 patients have come out of hospitals, fully cured, said the bulletin.
The 98 testing facilities across the State tested 34, 962 persons on Wednesday while 1.3 million persons have been tested till date. Out of the 64 patients who died on Wednesday, 59 had pre-existing chronic diseases making it clear that those with serious ailments should be extra cautious.
Chengalpet (273), Kancheepuram (133), Thiruvallur (300) and Madurai (379) showed considerable increase in the number of persons afflicted with the pandemic. Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, director, National Institute of Epidemiology, said that surveillance and testing in districts with increased number of coronavirus cases was the need of the hour. “There should be restrictions on public transport, gatherings and the need to promote the use of masks,” said Dr Kaur.