For the sixth consecutive day, Tamil Nadu added 1,000-plus cases of COVID-19 on Friday.

The State recorded 1,438 new infections, with Chennai accounting for 77% of the fresh cases. Tamil Nadu’s case tally stood at 28,694*, while that of the State capital inched closer to the 20,000-mark.

Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said that of the 1,438 new cases, 33 persons had returned from abroad and other States. “Chennai accounts for 1,116 of the new cases. The State has reported 12 more deaths, including those in government and private hospitals, those among persons with co-morbidities and incidental deaths,” he said.

He said the State government was being transparent in declaring positive cases. “We have been releasing all the data in the public domain through the press bulletins. Sometimes, political leaders, including the Opposition leader, or persons taking part in debates say the government is concealing data such as those pertaining to deaths. There is no such underplaying of deaths and testing details in the State. Each test has a unique ID number, and the result is uploaded on the portal of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR),” he said.

On Friday, a total of 861 persons were discharged from hospitals. This took the total number of patients discharged thus far to 15,762, while the number of active cases stood at 12,697.

The State’s toll increased to 232. This included a 44-year-old woman from Chennai who was admitted to Government Stanley Medical College Hospital on June 2. She had chronic kidney disease and systemic hypertension. She died on June 3.

Among the fresh cases were 584 women and three transpersons. Chengalpattu reported 86 cases and Tiruvallur, 64. There were 15 cases in Kancheepuram, 14 in Ranipet and 13 in Tiruvannamalai. Five persons who had returned from Dubai, six from Qatar and one from Sri Lanka tested positive. Apart from them, three persons who had returned from Maharashtra by flight also tested positive. A total of 18 persons — 14 from Delhi and four from Maharashtra — who had returned by road and on trains tested positive for COVID-19.

A total of 1,773 persons who have returned to the State on international and domestic flights, trains and ships, and by road, have tested positive so far.

With 15,692 samples tested on Friday, the total number of samples tested so far stands at 5,60,673. A total of 5,35,254 individuals have been tested so far.

The Minister said the trial of convalescent plasma therapy was going on successfully at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), while the Solidarity Trial for remdesivir was in progress at both the RGGGH and the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar. “Today, we have got the approval for ICMR-guided BCG vaccine research for vulnerable groups. We will start this research activity in two days,” he said.

Portal for pvt. hospitals

Citing complaints from the public that they were being made to run from one private hospital to another for want of beds, he said, “We are linking 30 private hospitals in Chennai. We are readying a portal in two days. This portal will have details on the total number of beds and ventilators available in these hospitals. People can look up the portal, find the details on bed occupancy/vacancy and admission before visiting the hospital. They can check with the hospital over the phone. This will avoid unnecessary hassle.”

He said the fee structure for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals would be released shortly. “There are 1.58 crore Chief Minister’s Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme cardholders in the State. Nearly 77% of the population is covered under the scheme. For the remaining 23% of the population, we will fix a cap for treatment charges in private hospitals,” he added.

In Chennai, COVID-19 patients were being managed at the four government medical college hospitals, ESI Ayanavaram, and five COVID-19 Care Centres. “We have appointed nodal officers for these 10 centres. We are ensuring that patients are admitted without any waiting period. With doctors’ advice, healthy and asymptomatic patients who have facilities at home are being sent on home quarantine in Chennai alone,” he said. (*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)