NE NEWS SERVICE
PUDUCHERRY, JULY 19
Puducherry on Sunday reported 109 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the overall tally in the union territory to 1,999.
A spokesman of the Department of Health and Family Welfare said that the total number of active cases stood at 817 after 92 patients were discharged during the last 24 hours,
A total of 1,154 patients have been treated and discharged so far, he added.
The total number of COVID-19 cases went up to 1,999 with the addition of the 109 fresh infections.
Fatalities remained at 28, the spokesman said, adding no death was reported in the last 24 hours.
The 109 new cases – 104 in hospitals in Puducherry, three in Karaikal and two in Yanam – were identified at the end of testing of 768 samples and results of the examination of remaining samples were awaited, he said.
Mahe did not report any fresh case. Of the 30,652 samples tested so far in Puducherry 28,214 samples proved negative and results of remaining samples were awaited.
Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao, meanwhile, said he was worried over the occurrence of 109 new cases in a day of the 768 samples tested.
“This is a very dangerous scenario. I expected that the number of cases would increase after the easing of curbs during the lockdown by the Centre. This has come true now as there has been a surge in infections in the Union Territory,” he added.
Rao, elected from the Yanam constituency, an enclave of Puducherry in Andhra Pradesh, said that with the number of infections in the territorial limits of Andhra Pradesh on the rise, the incidence in Yanam was increasing.
He further said a government school premises was utilised to accommodate new patients after the government general hospital’s full capacity was almost utilised.
He also pointed out that the Regional Administrator of Yanam had already announced total lockdown in the region every Sunday to contain the spread of the infection.
The Health Minister said necessary medical equipment was being procured fast, adding results of screening of people for the infection would be available round the clock.
