COVID-19: Number of fresh cases continues to decline in TN

Chennai, Jun 22 (PTI): Tamil Nadu on Tuesday recorded 6,895 fresh cases of COVID-19 including one returnee from Andhra Pradesh, pushing the overall caseload to 24,36,819, the Health department said.

The state reported 194 deaths taking the toll to 32,580, it said.

As many as 13,156 people got discharged today, taking the number of recoveries 23,48,353 leaving 56,886 active cases, a medical bulletin said.

Tamil Nadu recorded its highest daily infection at 36,184 on May 21 and since then it has been reporting a decline. On May 30, the State saw the number of daily cases dropping below 30,000; on June 7 the numbers were below 20,000; and on June 17 they were less than 10,000.

Coimbatore and Erode reported an excess of 500 cases each while 21 districts reported new infections in triple digits. Chennai registered 410 new cases aggregating to 5,30,034 till date. The number of COVID-19 related fatalities in the State capital also reached 8,095.

The testing of RT-PCR samples stood at 1,65,375 in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 3,15,05,639.

Of the 194 deaths, 136 succumbed in government hospitals while the remaining were in private facilities. As many as 41 victims were patients without any comorbidities or pre-existing illness including a 16-year old girl from Salem who succumbed due to COVID-19 pneumonia.

Earlier, State Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said the number of those affected by the 'Black Fungus' or 'mucormycosis' disease in the State, rose to 2,510 till Tuesday (from yesterday's 2,482) and the medicines to treat the patients including the 'Amphotericin' were adequately available in the state.

"We have directed private hospitals to procure these medicines through the online mode similar to the Remdesivir medicine which we sold to hospitals based on their requirement," he told reporters.

Referring to the declining trend of the virus cases in Tamil Nadu, he said people should continue to wear masks while going out, maintain social distance and constantly wash hands despite the virus having been brought under control.

"Through you (media) I appeal to the people to follow these COVID-19 protocols," he said. PTI VIJ SS PTI PTI PTI