NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI/PUDUCHERRY, DEC 26
Tamil Nadu reported 1,019 new COVID-19 cases on Saturday, taking the infection count to 8,13,161, while 11 more fatalities pushed the death toll to 12,059.
Recoveries continued to outnumber the new infections with 1,098 people getting cured, taking the aggregate to 7,92,063, a health department bulletin said.
The number of active cases stood at 9,039. A total of 64,441 samples were tested on Saturday, taking the cumulative total to 1,38,60,244 specimens examined so far.
According to the bulletin, five more returnees from the United Kingdom tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of such cases to 10.
Four were from Chennai, three from Thanjavur and one each from Nilgiris, Theni and Madurai,it said, adding all the UK returnee patients have been kept in separate isolation wards.
The State capital logged 295 new coronavirus cases, while the rest were scattered across other districts.
Chennai continued to top the list of cases with 2,24,094 infections of more than 8.13 lakh infections reported in the state.It also topped in the number of fatalities, accounting for 3,988 of the total 12,059 fatalities.
Fourteen districts added new cases in single digits, while 34 districts reported zero fatalities.
Puducherry
Puducherry reported 33 new coronavirus cases while a 77-year man succumbed to the infection taking the toll to 630, a top Health department official said on Saturday.
Of the 33 new cases, the Puducherry region reported 18, followed by Mahe (9), Karaikal(4) and Yanam (2), Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release.
The fresh infections were reported at the end of the examination of 3,391 samples pushing the overall tally to 37,947.
The patient who succumbed was a 77-year old resident of neighbouring Muthialpet village, Mohan Kumar said, adding that the toll rose to 630 in the union territory.
The man had comorbidities and died of severe Covid pneumonia and ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome), the Health department Director added.
He said that the fatality and recovery rates were 1.66 per cent and 97.40 per cent respectively.
The Department of Health hasso far tested 4.70 lakh samples of which 4.27 lakh samples turned out to be negative.
As many as 26 patients recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours ending 10 AM Saturday.
Of the overall 37,947 Covid cases, 355 were active while 36,962 patients had recovered and were discharged so far.
