NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEPT 30
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported 5,659 new COVID-19 cases, taking the tally to 5,97,602 while the death toll mounted to 9,520 with 67 more fatalities. Active cases stood at 46,263 with 5,610 patients getting discharged from various hospitals in the state and in total 5,41,819 people recovered, a health department bulletin said.
The deceased include two men aged 27 and 37. In total 62 had co-morbidities and five no chronic diseases. The total death toll covers Chennai’s 3,210, Chengelpet 554, Tiruvallur 545 and Coimbatore 436. Chennai topped in the number of infections with 1,295, followed by Coimbatore with 574, Salem 378, Chengelpet 335, Tiruvallur 275, Kancheepuram 207, while the remainder was spread across Tamil Nadu.
The city also accounted for the bulk of the tally of 5.97 lakh plus tally of positive cases with 1,67,376, followed by Chengelpet 35,590, Tiruvallur 32,387, Coimbatore 32,068 and Kancheepuram 21,969. As many as 86,928 RT-PCR samples were tested and cumulatively 73,54,050 specimens examined.
Meanwhile, Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar inspected the COVID-19 treatment wards at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here for about an hour and half wearing Personal Protective Equipment. He interacted with coronavirus patients about their treatment and the quality of food provided at the hospital, which has 2,000 beds for treating virus patients.
Vijayabaskar said though he had mentioned several times before that wearing PPE and working was a challenging task for doctors and nurses, he felt that today while inspecting the hospital with the protective gear. “I bow before the doctors and nurses for their work with dedication during the pandemic by wearing the PPE,” the Minister said. Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and hospital dean were present during the inspection.