The district, on Monday, witnessed a spike in cases, with the number of positive patients crossing the 100 mark in a single day.
The district’s total count has reached 160, following the detection of 107 new cases. Of this the results of as many as 100 patients came back positive on Monday while seven others tested positive on Sunday night.
According to official sources, all the 107 new cases had returned from the Koyambedu wholesale market in Chennai. A majority of them were working as vendors and daily wage labourers in the market and had returned to the district over the last few days after Koyambedu emerged as a COVID-19 hot spot in the State. Of the total 160 cases, as many as 129 are from Koyambedu, sources said.
Meanwhile, the district administration has begun contact-tracing of all persons found positive.
According to an official in the Health Department, a total of 4931 tests were carried out in the Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital (RMMCH) in Chidambaram and Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER) in Puducherry.
Of the total tests, 160 were found to be positive. Of them as many 134 are active COVID-19 cases, while 26 have been discharged. The results of 430 more patients are awaited. The government has sealed the borders and is now enforcing a complete shutdown on every Sunday, he said.