Tamil Nadu’s overall COVID-19 tally crossed 1.5 lakh, with 4,496 fresh cases reported on Wednesday. The total number of persons cured crossed one lakh as 5,000 more persons were discharged across the State.
With this, the State has reported a total of 1,51,820* COVID-19 cases till now. Of this, 1,02,310 persons have been cured, while the number of persons under treatment stood at 47,340. Another 68 persons, including a 19-year-old girl, died, taking the toll to 2,167.
Chennai saw a marginal rise in the number of fresh infections with 1,291 cases. Its neighbouring districts of Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu had 278 and 186 cases respectively. While Kancheepuram had 163 cases, there were 123 in Tiruvannamalai, 97 in Vellore and 91 in Villupuram.
In the southern region, Madurai continued to witness a high number of cases with 341. Thoothukudi followed with 268 cases, while Virudhunagar and Tirunelveli had 175 and 164 respectively. There were 134 cases in Kanniyakumari, 113 in Dindigul and 119 in Ramanathapuram. Sivaganga district had 100 cases.
Among the rest, Coimbatore had 103 cases and Tiruchi 99. All 37 districts reported new cases on Wednesday. Of this, only six had cases in single digits. Sixty-six returnees tested positive for COVID-19 in the State.
With this, the overall tally of cases stood at 80,961 in Chennai, while it was 8,741 in Chengalpattu, 7,573 in Tiruvallur and 7,331 in Madurai.
The State’s recovery rate was 67%. Of the 5,000 persons cured, a significant number were from Chennai and Madurai. A total of 1,484 persons in Chennai and 1,188 persons in Madurai were discharged. As of date, a total of 64,036 persons have been discharged in Chennai.
In the last few weeks, more than 1,000 persons were being discharged per day in the State. As per guidelines issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research, exit tests are no longer needed. Earlier, patients were discharged after two samples returned negative.
Oxygen saturation
A senior doctor said the guidelines were clear. “Once symptoms subside, patients can be discharged if they are able to maintain oxygen saturation for three days in room air and their vital signs are stable. On average, patients require hospitalisation for seven to 10 days,” he said. Another doctor pointed out that asymptomatic young patients were discharged earlier than older ones. However, strict home quarantine for 14 days was advised.
Chennai accounted for 23 of the 68 deaths. The rest occurred in districts including Madurai, Dindigul, Kallakurichi, Kanyakumari and Vellore. A 19-year-old girl from Kancheepuram died at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on July 14. She had Type 1 diabetes, chronic kidney disease (CKD), and tested positive for COVID-19. She died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome, respiratory failure, COVID-19 pneumonia, sepsis, acute on CKD and diabetes ketoacidosis.
A 97-year-old man from Chennai died at RGGGH on July 14. He had systemic hypertension and newly diagnosed CKD. His death was due to sepsis, septic shock, respiratory failure, COVID-19 pneumonia, acute on chronic kidney disease and acute encephalopathy.
In the last 24 hours, 41,382 samples were tested in the State. This took the total number of tests to 17,36,747. One more testing facility was approved at the Government Headquarters Hospital, The Nilgiris. Now, there are 107 testing facilities in the State.
(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)