On a day when another 1,779 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, the active caseload went past 10,000 after nearly three months. Chennai, along with six other districts, accounted for over 70% of the fresh cases.
The State’s active caseload was pushed to 10,487. The last time it had over 10,000 persons under treatment for COVID-19 was in mid-December 2020. Of this, 4,082 persons were in Chennai followed by 1,088 persons in Chengalpattu and 936 in Coimbatore.
In Chennai, 664 persons tested positive, while three districts had 100-plus cases — Chengalpattu (162), Coimbatore (153) and Thanjavur (108).
There were 89 cases in Tiruvallur, 63 in Kancheepuram, 52 in Tiruvarur, 45 in Salem and 43 in Madurai. There were no new cases in Perambalur, while the number of districts that recorded fewer than 10 cases each dropped to 10.
Nine returnees — five from West Bengal and one each from Bangladesh, Gujarat, Assam and Kerala — were among those who tested positive for the infection. The State accounted for a total of 8,73,219 cases till now.
A total of 11 persons succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 12,641. Another 1,027 persons were discharged, taking the total number of persons discharged so far to 8,50,091.
Chennai accounted for seven of the 11 fatalities. There was one death each in Kancheepuram, Thanjavur, Tiruvallur and Vellore.
Death at home
Among the deceased was a 47-year-old man, who had no co-morbidities. A resident of Chennai, he had symptoms of cough and difficulty in breathing for five days. He had sought treatment at a private clinic on March 1 and later at a government urban primary health centre.
A swab was lifted on March 5 but he died at home on March 6 before the result arrived.
The result was declared as COVID-19 positive and included in the list, according to the bulletin issued by the Health Department.
In the last 24 hours, 81,103 samples were tested. Till date, a total of 1,90,92,221 samples have been tested in the State.