NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEP 12
Tamil Nadu on Saturday logged 5,495 fresh COVID-19 infections taking the tally close to the five lakh mark with 4,97,066 positive cases being reported till date, the Health department said.
With 76 deaths reported today, the toll mounted to 8,307 in the state, the Health department said in a bulletin.
Recoveries continued to outnumber fresh infections as 6,227 people walked out from various healthcare facilities, taking the tally of those cured so far to 4,41,649.
Active cases which dropped below the 50,000 mark a few days ago stood at 47,110 in the state.
As many as 88,562 specimens were tested on Saturday taking the total number of samples tested at the over 150 facilities so far to 58,03,778.
Tamil Nadu does not use Rapid Antigen Diagnostic Tests and all tests are RT-PCR (Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction based).
The state capital clocked 978 new infections taking its tally to 1,47,591 contributing to the State”s over four lakh cases.
Besides Chennai, Coimbatore recorded 428 new cases, followed by Thiruvallur (299), Salem (289), Chengalpet (267), Tirupur (256) and Cuddalore (253), the bulletin said.
Erode, Kancheepuram, Kanyakumari, Nagapattinam, Thanjavur, Thiruvaru, Tirunelveli, Vellore and Villupuram logged more than 100 cases.
While Chennai registered the highest number of new cases (978) today, Ariyalur district saw the least with 14.
Among the 76 deaths reported today, 68 were with comorbidities while eight were without comorbidity — which include a 27-year old man from neighbouring Chengalpet who died due to respiratory failure.
At least eight of the deceased were octogenarians, the bulletin said.
As many as 36 of the patients who died were between the age of 60 and 79 years.
Five of those who tested positive (of the 5,495 new infections) were returnees from various States, the bulletin said.
Of the 8,307 deaths reported till date, 2,959 people were from Chennai.
Over 1 lakh cancer patients treated since March, says TN govt
The Tamil Nadu government has helped provide cancer-related medical treatment to over 1.30 lakh people in government hospitals and government medical college hospitals across the state since March, Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar said on Saturday.
Also, about 250 cancer patients, who had tested positive for COVID-19, were treated, he said.
Of the total 1,31,352 cancer patients who were provided treatment till date, 48,647 were admitted to hospitals.
In a press release here, the Minister said efforts were being taken to provide uninterrupted medical care to cancer patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.
As many as 2,191 patients underwent surgery, including for breast cancer.
While 27,721 people underwent chemotherapy, 11,678 took radiation therapy, and 6,664 received treatment through pain and palliative care units.
The state government”s 102 vehicle service was utilised to shift patients from their homes to the hospitals and back after treatment during the COVID-19 lockdown.
“This has facilitated uninterrupted treatment for the patients during the lockdown period. About 1,396 patients benefited through the vehicle service from March till date,” the Minister said.
Petrol pumps to remain open till 10 p.m.
The Tamil Nadu government on Saturday extended the working hours of petrol pumps by two hours from 8 pm in order to avoid crowding at the retail outlets and also make the fuel available without difficulty.
The state government had extended the lockdown till this month-end with certain restrictions and various relaxations. It permitted the petrol pumps to function from 6 am to 8 pm. And now the present move to extend the timing will enable the pumps to operate till 10 pm.
Following a request from the Indian Oil Corporation, the Cooperation, Food and Consumer Protection department requested the government to permit the petrol pumps to function upto 10 pm to serve the customers and to avoid crowding at the retail outlets which shut at 8 pm.
Accepting the proposal, the state government amended the earlier order of the Revenue and Disaster Management department dated August 31 to permit fuel outlets to function from 6 am to 10 pm, as per the amendment to the notification issued by state chief secretary K Shanmugam.
