Chennai, along with six of the northern districts, reported more than half of the 4,549 new COVID-19 cases on Thursday. A majority of the remaining cases were reported in the southern districts of the State.
This is the second time this week that the daily COVID-19 count in the State surpassed the 4,500-mark. The fresh cases took the State’s tally to 1,56,369*. Another 5,106 persons were discharged on Thursday, while 69 persons died.
Currently, 46,714 persons are under treatment, while the total number of persons discharged stands at 1,07,416. The State’s toll climbed to 2,236.
In Chennai, 1,157 persons tested positive for COVID-19.
There was a rise in the number of cases in several northern districts, with Tiruvallur leading the daily count with 526 new cases. While 250 persons tested positive in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai and Chengalpattu had 203 and 179 cases. There were 145 cases in Ranipet and 101 in Villupuram.
Southern districts
The southern belt continued to bear the brunt of the surge in cases. There were 267 new cases in Madurai, followed by 170 in Thoothukudi, 146 in Kanniyakumari, 145 in Virudhunagar, 130 in Tirunelveli and 125 in Dindigul. Ramanathapuram had 90 cases, Sivaganga 82 cases and Theni 78. Among other districts, Tiruchi reported 94 cases, while Salem and Coimbatore had 70 and 52 cases.
Apart from these, 66 returnees tested positive for the infection across the State.
Of the 5,106 persons discharged, 1,712 were in Chennai, followed by 679 in Madurai and 450 in Tiruvallur. With this, 65,748 persons have been discharged in Chennai, following treatment, while 15,038 are still under treatment.
Twenty-three of the 69 deaths occurred in Chennai, while there were seven deaths in Tiruvallur, five in Madurai and four each in Chengalpattu and Vellore.
Chennai’s toll rose to 1,341, while there have been 176 deaths in Chengalpattu, 141 in Tiruvallur and 134 in Madurai in total.
A 48-year-old man from Tiruvallur, who had co-morbidities, died within a few hours of being admitted to a private medical college hospital with complaints of fever, cough and difficulty in breathing.
A 60-year-old man with diabetes and systemic hypertension died within 20 minutes of admission to a government hospital in Tiruvallur due to COVID-19, severe pneumonia and cardio respiratory arrest on July 15. A 40-year-old woman was declared brought dead in Tiruvallur on July 15. She died due to cardio respiratory arrest, severe pneumonia and COVID-19.
In the last 24 hours, a total of 45,888 samples were tested in the State. As of date, a total of 17,82,635 samples and 17,09,459 individuals have been tested in Tamil Nadu.
(*This is inclusive of two deaths cross-notified to other States and one patient who died after testing negative for the infection)