After staying below the 6,000-mark for 30 days, the State on Saturday recorded 6,352 fresh COVID-19 cases, taking its tally to 4,15,590.

The number of persons discharged crossed 3.55 lakh, with the recovery of another 6,045 persons. The State’s toll climbed to 7,137, with 87 more fatalities.

The State’s daily count crossed the 6,000-mark, as a record 80,988 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. This took the total number of samples tested till date in the State to 46,54,797.

A seven-year-old girl and four persons aged in their 20s were among the 87 patients who succumbed to the infection. The child was admitted to the Institute of Child Health and Hospital for Children on August 19, and died on August 27 due to myoclonic seizures, refractory status epilepticus, neural deterioration, ventilator-associated pneumonia and COVID-19, according to a bulletin issued by the Health Department. Two of the persons in their 20s did not have co-morbidities — a 26-year-old woman from Thanjavur died at the Thanjavur Medical College Hospital on August 27 due to respiratory failure, COVID-19 and viral pneumonia, while a 29-year-old man from Salem died at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem due to respiratory failure and COVID-19 pneumonia on August 27.

Chennai accounted for 17 of the fatalities, while nine persons died in Coimbatore and six each in Kanniyakumari and Vellore.

In Chennai, 1,285 persons tested positive for COVID-19. The fresh infections continued to rise in Coimbatore, which recorded 491 cases, while Salem saw 432 and Cuddalore 420. There were 306 cases in Chengalpattu, 284 in Tiruvallur and 241 in Kancheepuram. A total of 16 districts had 100-plus cases. This included Vellore 175; Villupuram 171; Kanniyakumari 160; Tirunelveli 154; Tiruvannamalai 152 and Ranipet 151. With the new cases, the tally of Salem and Tiruvannamalai districts crossed the 10,000-mark.

Cases continued to remain high in Chennai’s neighbouring districts, though the number of fresh infections dipped in a number of other districts that had witnessed a surge early. A public health official said that this was a challenge if people did not wear masks or follow physical distancing norms.

Apart from the indigenous cases, 26 persons who returned from other States and abroad tested positive for the infection. As of date, a total of 52,726 persons are under treatment in the State. This included 13,653 in Chennai and 3,522 in Coimbatore.

Three more private laboratories were approved for COVID-19 testing — Sooriya Hospital Molecular Biology Lab in Chennai, Vadamalayan Hospitals-Laboratory in Madurai and VMH Laboratories in Thanjavur. As of date, there are a total of 149 testing facilities in the State, of which 86 are in the private sector.