Tamil Nadu has, for the first time, reported more number of new coronavirus cases in the districts than in Chennai.

Out of the 4,343 new cases reported in the last 24 hours — the highest ever single day spike — Chennai accounted for 2,027 and all the districts put together 2,316 cases with Madurai reporting the highest number of 273 new cases.

The new infections tripled in the last 12 days in Madurai while in Chennai it has doubled.

Chennai has been the hotspot that started three months ago. However, in the last 12 days, there has been a gradual increase in the number of cases in the districts due to the large scale migration of people from the city.

Chennai’s neighbouring districts — Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram — have been reporting high numbers along with the city due to the spillover effect. However, new cases have been steadily increasing elsewhere too including Madurai, Thiruvannamalai, Ramanathapuram, and Theni.

Meanwhile, with 3,095 persons discharged on Thursday, the number of active cases in the State stands at 41,047.

The number of cases reported in other districts are: Chengalpattu (171), Kallakurichi (133), Kancheepuram (112), Ramanathapuram (108), Ranipet (127), Thiruvallur (164), Thiruvannamalai (167) and Vellore (137), and the rest of the cases distributed among other districts, including Dindigul,

On Thursday, 57 Covid-19 patients died to take the total number of deaths due to the virus to 1,321. 33,488 samples were tested, says a health ministry bulletin.

Despite the increasing number of cases, there is no community transmission of Covid-19 in the State, maintained Health Minister C Vijayabaskar. Only ICMR needs to disclose whether such transmission has started or not, he told in a televised speech.