As many as 428 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Coimbatore district on Saturday. The Health Department on Saturday announced the death of six more patients in the district.
As of Saturday, the total number of persons tested positive for the disease in the district stood at 21,665. The official death toll in the district touched 349. As per the media bulletin issued by the department, six persons died of the disease between September 10 and 12.
Two courts at the combined court complex were closed after a judge, his wife and two office assistants tested positive on Friday. Swab samples of around 50 court staff were collected for test.
With 256 fresh cases, Tiruppur district reported its highest single-day increase, so far, on Saturday that took its overall tally to 4,446 cases.
Sources in the Health Department said that the spike was caused due to the declaration of test results, which were pending at a private laboratory in Coimbatore for three days. However, the 256 results came as positive out of over 5,800 samples that were tested, according to the sources.
District Collector K. Vijayakarthikeyan said that the district’s positivity rate is around 4%, while the death rate is 1.84%. Following the relaxations in the COVID-19 lockdown from September 1, the Health Department ramped up testing with 2,000 samples being tested per day. “As mobility increased, we were forced to test more and test quickly,” he told The Hindu. The recent increase in the number of cases per day is also due to the increase in testing, Mr. Vijayakarthikeyan said.
Tiruppur district reported one death as a 59-year-old man died at the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital in Salem on Thursday.
As many as 289 cases were reported in Salem. Tiruchengode MLA Pon. Saraswathi has tested positive for the disease.
According to officials, among the cases in Salem, 285 are indigenous including 183 in Salem Corporation limits. Four patients have returned from Karur.
Nine patients affected persons died in Salem and Namakkal. While six patients died in Salem, Namakkal reported three deaths.
In Namakkal, 95 cases were reported. The affected patients include two police personnel, two teachers and a government nurse. 16 patients have returned from other districts.
Erode district reported 136 new cases, taking the tally to 4,409. A total of 96 persons were discharged on Saturday, and 1,006 persons are under treatment. Two persons died at the hospital taking the district’s tally to 56.