Covid-19 situation in Tamil Nadu took a turn for the worse on Thursday with the administration announcing the detection of black fungus in the State.
Black fungus (Mucormycosis) has been reported as a notifiable disease by Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan who disclosed that the private hospitals in the State have been asked to furnish details of the disease which they have diagnosed.
The Directorate of Health and Preventive Medicine in its release said 35, 579 persons have been diagnosed with Covid-19 on Thursday while the pandemic claimed 397 lives during the last 24 hours.
The deaths on account of the pandemic till Thursday evening reached 19,131. As on Thursday evening there were 2.63 lakh patients across the State. Chennai continued to the problematic district with 6,073 new cases while Coimbatore finished second with 3335 new cases.
The hike in the number of Covid-19 cases and fatalities is a matter of concern as the State is under total lockdown mode.