Fresh novel coronavirus infections stayed below 1,000 for the fourth day in a row in Tamil Nadu.
A total of 921 persons tested positive for COVID-19 on the first day of the New Year, taking the overall tally to 8,18,935.
While there was no fresh case in Perambalur, 11 of the remaining 36 districts recorded less than 10 cases each on Friday. These included Kallakurichi, 2; Ramanathapuram, 2; Ariyalur, 3; and Sivagangai, 4.
In Chennai, 252 persons tested positive, while 82 tested positive in Coimbatore. There were 54 cases in Chengalpattu. Tiruppur reported 46 cases, while Erode had 44 cases. Salem and Tiruvallur recorded 40 cases each.
Another 13 persons succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 12,135. Of them, six died in Chennai, two in Salem and one each in Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Ramanathapuram, Thanjavur and Tiruvannamalai.
All 13 of them had co-morbidities and were aged above 50. One of them — a 53-year-old man with acute kidney injury — was admitted to a private hospital in Ramanathapuram on December 22 with complaints of fever for six days, cough and dyspnoea for four days. He died on December 31 owing to COVID-19 pneumonia.
A 60-year-old woman from Salem, who had diabetes, was admitted to the Government Mohan Kumaramangalam Medical College Hospital on December 25. She died on December 29 owing to COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure.
Chennai accounted for a total of 4,014 deaths, followed by Chengalpattu, 744, and Tiruvallur, 679.
Another 1,029 persons, including 334 in Chennai, were discharged following treatment. So far, 7,98,420 persons have been discharged. The State accounts for 8,380 active cases.
As many as 67,151 samples were tested in the last 24 hours. So far, 1,42,58,645 samples have been tested.
Of the nearly 2,300 passengers who travelled from the U.K. between November 25 and December 23, 1,981 persons were traced and tested, and 24 of them were found positive and 1,945 persons were negative. The results in respect of 12 persons were awaited.
Contact tracing
The tracing of the remaining passengers was under way, according to the Health Department’s bulletin. Though 1,945 travellers had already tested negative, 1,871 of their close contacts were traced and tested, and all were found negative, according to the bulletin.
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar inaugurated a 100-bed COVID-19 intensive care unit at the Government Kilpauk Medical College (KMC) Hospital on Friday. Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan, Director of Medical Education R. Narayana Babu and KMC Dean P. Vasanthamani were present.