Puducherry recorded two more COVID-19 deaths even while 126 fresh cases were detected in the Union Territory on Wednesday.
An 80-year-old man and a 73-year-old woman died at the Karaikal Government Hospital, taking the toll in the enclave to 75. The toll is 549 in Puducherry, 45 in Yanam and 10 in Mahe. Puducherry accounted for 87 fresh cases, followed by Karaikal (32), Yanam (6) and Mahe (1).
With 17 patients discharged in the last 24 hours and one case transferred to Tamil Nadu, the active cases in the U.T. stood at 586. Of this, 226 patients in hospitals and 360 patients were in home isolation.
Of an estimated 6.57 lakh tests carried out by the Health Department so far, about 6.1 lakh were negative.
Vaccination drive
Meanwhile, 956 healthcare personnel, 383 frontline workers and 1,368 members of the public took the vaccine in the last 24 hours. The number of vaccinated persons to date aggregates 50,265 in the Union Territory. This includes 21,688 health care personnel, 7,997 frontline staff and 20,580 members of the public.
S. Mohan Kumar, Director of Health, urged the public to adhere to safety measures of masking, sanitising and social distancing as the pattern of incidence was similar to the upward trend of March last year.
Though a vaccine is available now, the new strain was reported to be more fulminant than its predecessor and with elections around the corner, it is feared that the infections could increase exponentially, he said.
Meanwhile, about 4,000 people took the first dose at a mega vaccination camp at the MGMCRI on Wednesday.
S. Mohan Kumar, Director of Health, said it was proposed to host similar camps in other medical colleges.
