Eight districts of the western region recorded 489 new COVID-19 positive cases on Monday, with Coimbatore district alone accounting for 227 cases, which took the district’s overall tally to 5,458.
As many as 216 persons were discharged from various hospitals in Coimbatore on Monday, and 1,695 patients are under treatment in the district.
After seven police personnel attached to Annur station tested positive on Monday, swab samples of all police personnel and their family members were collected for COVID-19 test.
According to the Health Department, Monday’s cases were from places including Annur (10), Sidhapudur (8), R.S. Puram (6), Peelamedu (7), Kurichi (6), Ukkadam (5) and Thomas Street (4).
Salem district saw 66 cases, of which 63 were indigenous including 44 from the Corporation limits. Two patients returned from Erode and Coimbatore and one from Kerala.
In Namakkal, 43 cases were reported including a driver at a primary health centre. According to health officials, 10 patients returned from Kerala and Karnataka and four from Erode, Chennai and Tiruvannamalai.
While four persons tested positive in Dharmapuri, including a 3-year-old girl, Krishnagiri district saw 69 new cases.
In the Nilgiris, 37 persons tested positive, raising the district’s tally to 849. The district administration stated that 700 persons recovered and 147 were under treatment.
A section of the Udhagamandalam Municipal Market was closed for a week after a trader tested positive on Sunday.
Municipal Commissioner R. Saraswati said the trader, who was a representative of the merchants’ association, assisted the municipality in fighting COVID-19 and travelled to a few villages and was well acquainted with people in the market. Tracing of his contacts was under way, she said
Municipal staff began disinfecting the market on Monday and more than 70 shops would remain closed for a week, officials said.
Health officials said tracing the primary contacts of the trader was proving an uphill task as he could have contracted the infection more than a week ago and had been working in a crowded area of the market since then. All shopkeepers in the market would be tested for COVID-19, the officials added.
Tiruppur district reported 30 fresh cases, of which two were doctors aged 56 and 53 from Rayapuram. A 57-year-old police officer from Udumalpet, who was staying in the police quarters in Dharapuram, also tested positive, Health Department sources said.
According to the COVID-19 media bulletin, Tiruppur district’s overall tally stood at 994 cases on Monday, of which 617 recovered and 363 were active cases.
Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan said the media bulletin reported 45 cases on Monday for Tiruppur district instead of 30 due to “double entry,” which would be rectified by Tuesday.
With 13 persons testing positive, Erode district’s tally increased to 767. Nine of the new cases were reported in the Corporation limits, two in Ammapettai and one case each at Bhavani and Nambiyur. A total of 14 persons were discharged on Monday and 160 persons were under treatment.