Fresh spike of 874 cases takes T.N. past 20,000-mark

Chennai adds 618 patients to its tally

In yet another high, Tamil Nadu reported 874 cases of COVID-19 on Friday, pushing the tally past the 20,000-mark.

There was a massive surge in cases in Chennai as well, with the city recording its highest single-day spike yet — 618 cases.

The people who were discharged after treatment numbered 765, taking the total to 11,313.

The State’s total number of positive cases rose to 20,246*. It had crossed the 10,000-mark on May 15. With Chennai seeing no respite from a high number of COVID-19 cases, its tally climbed to 13,362.

There were nine more deaths, including that of a 32-year-old man in Chennai, taking the toll to 154.

A public health expert said that Chennai required a number of measures urgently — a micro plan in which streets that continue to report cases should have a separate strategy; aggressive testing and facility quarantine of all asymptomatic contacts; shops should not be allowed to reopen on these streets until aggressive testing was completed for all contacts and barriers should be re-evaluated. Along with this, bed capacity should be increased, the expert added.

Experts said that restrictions should continue on places of worship, educational institutions, cinemas, malls and public transport, while calling for routine testing of healthcare workers, strict implementation of masks in workplaces and public places.

Of the nine deaths, five persons died at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) and four in private hospitals. Four of the deceased were women.

The 32-year-old man, who tested positive for COVID-19, was admitted to RGGGH at 12.35 a.m. May 28. He died at 9.20 p.m. the same day due to cardiopulmonary arrest, COVID-19 pneumonia, type I respiratory failure, hypoxic encephalopathy and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

The number of COVID-19 cases has been steadily rising in Chengalpattu. With 61 new cases, the district’s total of positive cases reached 1,000 on Friday. There were 14 cases in Tiruvannamalai, 12 in Kancheepuram, nine in Tiruvallur, five each in Cuddalore and Kallakurichi, four in Tirunelveli, one each in Ariyalur, Dindigul, Kanniyakumari, Tiruchi and Villupuram.

The fresh cases included a total of 141 persons who had returned from other States and tested positive for COVID-19. Out of this, 129 persons had returned from Maharashtra. A total of 72 of them, who were under railway quarantine, tested positive, while the remaining tested positive in districts including Tiruvannamalai, Tirunelveli and Kallakurichi. Three persons from Kerala, and one person each from West Bengal, Telangana and Karnataka have also tested positive.

Six persons, who had returned to the State from Maharashtra in a flight, also tested positive for COVID-19.

A total of 4,66,550 samples have been tested so far, including the day’s samples of 11,334. One more testing facility has been approved in the government sector — the Communicable Diseases Hospital, Chennai. As of now, there are 43 testing facilities in the government sector and 28 in the private sector.

(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)