Tamil Nadu’s seesaw battle with Covid-19 continued on Thursday as 4,231 persons were diagnosed with the pandemic across the State. There was no respite in the death toll also. The day saw 65 persons succumbing to coronavirus in the State.
With 4,231 persons getting infected with the disease, Tamil Nadu has 46, 653 active Covid-19 patients as on Thursday. Till date 1.26 lakh persons has tested positive for the pandemic.
According to the medical bulletin released by the State, the number of laboratories to test the samples has gone up to 100, a sign that the Tamil Nadu Government is on an aggressive testing mode. A total of 41, 038 persons were tested on Thursday while the number of persons tested till date across the State crossed the 1.42 million mark.
The bulletin said 3,994 persons were discharged from hospitals across the State on Thursday, taking the number of persons discharged till date to 78, 161.
The news from southern districts continued to be grim while the northern districts showed some abatement in the number of cases. Chennai Metropolis registered 1,216 coronavirus cases while neighbouring districts of Chengalpet (169) and Kancheepuram ( 67) too showed slight decrease in the number of persons tested positive. But in Thiruvallur, another neighbouring district of Chennai, 364 persons were diagnosed with the pandemic. The district had tested only 300 cases on Wednesday.
Southern districts of Madurai ( 262), Kallakurichi (254), Thoothukudi ( 196) and Virudhunagar (289) continued to be problematic spots because of the increasing numbers. Out of the 65 deaths in the State on Thursday, 58 died with comorbidities.
Chennai Corporation officials attributed the decrease in the number of Covid-29 cases in the metropolis to the fever camps held across the wards in the capital city and suburbs. A senior Corporation official said that the total positivity rate (number of positive cases for every 100 tests) in Chennai has come down from 24.2 per cent in June to 18.2 per cent in July. While the city has been reporting close to just 1,200 fresh cases for the past couple of days, the doubling rate of positive cases (number of days it takes for the count to double) in the city has risen to 25 days, from the 14-15 days in mid-June, said the official.