A total of 5,560 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu on Thursday.
While 5,524 persons were discharged from hospitals after treatment, 59 persons succumbed to the infection.
The fresh cases took the State’s tally to 5,25,420 — 46,610 active cases, 4,70,192 persons discharged and 8,618 deceased.
Chennai accounted for 992 new cases and 12 deaths, followed by Coimbatore with 530 cases.
Four districts recorded 200-plus cases — Salem 291; Chengalpattu 283; Tiruvallur 239 and Cuddalore 206.
While Tiruppur reported 191 fresh cases of COVID-19, Kancheepuram recorded 187. Among other districts, Tiruvannamalai reported 167 cases, Thanjavur 155 and Dharmapuri 124.
Of the 59 deceased (36 deaths in government hospitals and 23 in private facilities), 52 had co-morbidities. Of them, nine were in their 40s.
This included a 40-year-old woman who had diabetes. She was admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Omandurar Estate on September 12. She died on September 16 due to acute respiratory failure, sepsis and COVID-19 pneumonia.
According to the Health Department, 20 of the 59 persons who died were in their 60s.
In the last 24 hours, 84,524 samples were tested in the State, taking the total number of samples tested so far to 62,17,923. The total number of individuals tested in the State so far stands at 60,23,627.
Labs approved
One more government laboratory and three more private laboratories — Government Headquarters Hospital in Mayiladuthurai; Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Science in Kanniyakumari; Microbiological Laboratory in Lakshmi Commercial Bazaar, Tirunelveli; and Vijaya Medical and Educational Trust in Chennai — were approved for COVID-19 testing.
With this, the State has a total of 174 testing facilities — 66 in the government sector and 108 private facilities.