NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, AUG 28
Tamil Nadu on Friday witnessed 5,996 fresh coronavirus cases and 102 additional deaths that pushed the overall tally in the state to 4.09 lakh. With 102 fatalities, the toll reached 7,050. Recoveries stood at 5,752 as the number of people cured rose to 3.49 lakh, a health department bulletin said.
While the total infection count touched 4.09 lakh, active cases were 52,506, it said. The state tested 75,103 samples as the total specimens examined so far rose to 45.73 lakh. The state capital, which has been seeing a slight increase in the cases in recent days, accounted for 1,296 new COVID-19 infections.
Among the fresh deaths, as many as 97 were owing to comorbidities, the bulletin said adding a 36-year old man from Nagapattinam died due to COVID-19 pneumonia. Of the fresh infections reported on Friday, the neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpet, where the city’s suburbs are located, collectively reported 788 cases.
Coimbatore and Salem in western Tamil Nadu saw a sharp rise with 496 and 437 cases respectively. Villupuram, Vellore, Tirunelveli, Thiruvarur, Tuticorin, Theni, Thanjavur, Ranipet and Erode each recorded more than 100 cases, the bulletin said.
Of the 5,996 new cases reported today, 17 of them were returnees from various states. According to the health department, Tamil Nadu has 146 laboratories for conducting COVID-19 tests — 63 government and 83 private. Among those who contracted the contagion today, 3,543 were men and 2,453 women patients, the bulletin said.
