5,528 fresh Covid cases in Tamil Nadu, 8 central districts report least new infections

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu recorded 5,528 new cases of Covid-19 and 64 deaths on Thursday while active cases stood at 48,482 after 6,185 people were discharged. The case tally touched 4,86,052 while cumulative toll reached 8,154.
“We are now slowly reducing the infection rate in the state. The positivity rate is below 10% in most parts of the state barring districts such as Cuddalore. But to maintain a low infection rate, people must follow pandemic rules – masks, social distancing and hand hygiene,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar. He said the state had added 400 more Covid-19 beds to the 800-bed facility in Stanley Medical College Hospital. “All the new beds are oxygen beds. It will help people in the Chennai region,” he said.
Chennai reported 991 cases and 11deaths, while Chengalpet (279), Kancheepuram (173) and Thiruvallur (296) together added 748 new cases. The Chennai region had 16,541 active cases, including 10,845 in Chennai.
The other seven northern district reported 1,001 cases and 14 deaths. Cuddalore had 263 cases followed by Villupuram (189), Vellore
(152), Ranipet (118), Kallakurichi (113), Thirupathur (85), and Tiruvannamalai (81).
The eight western districts together added 1,366 new cases with 440 cases from Coimbatore, followed by Salem (300), Tiruppur (155), Dharmapuri (124), Krishnagiri and Namakkal (123), Nilgiris (69) and Erode (32). There were 10,359 active cases in the west.
The eight central districts reported the lowest number of fresh cases, while the 10 southern districts had the least deaths. The central zone had 700 cases and 12 deaths, while the south had 721 cases and eight deaths. Two districts in the central zone – Nagapattinam and Trichy – had 130 cases followed by Thiruvarur (127), Pudukottai (99) and Thanjavur (90). Of the 12 deaths, Nagapattinam recorded seven. The zone had 5,368 active cases.
In the south, Tuticorin had 112 new cases and Tirunelveli 123. At 20, Sivanganga had the least number of fresh cases. Theni (95), Dindigul (87), Kanyakumari (75), Tenkasi (64), Madurai (61), Ramanathapuram (53) and Virudhunagar (31) recorded cases in two digits. Together the 10 districts had 7,146 active cases.
In the last 24 hours, 83,411 people had undergone tests.