In a sharp spike, Puducherry recorded over 300 new COVID-19 cases even as two more deaths raised the toll to 691.
A 67-year-old patient died at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), while a 44-year-old patient succumbed to coronavirus at the Karaikal Government Hospital. Both had diabetes mellitus as a comorbid condition.
With this, the cumulative region-wise toll is 556 in Puducherry, 79 in Karaikal, 45 in Yanam and 11 in Mahe. Of the 306 new cases detected from 3,348 tests, Puducherry accounted for 210, followed by Karaikal (71), Yanam (22) and Mahe (three).
With 206 persons recovering in the last 24 hours, the active cases stood at 2,316. Of these, 511 were in hospitals and 1,805 in home isolation. In Puducherry, the Indira Gandhi Medical College and Research Institute houses 259 patients and while 167 are in Jipmer.
The test positivity rate was 9.13%, case fatality rate 1.57% and recovery rate 93.17%. The number of tests conducted crossed the 7 lakh mark with over 6.41 lakh returning negative.
Meanwhile, 207 healthcare workers, 155 frontline staff and 2,961 members of the public took the first shot of the vaccine in the last 24 hours.
The number of those immunised in the Union Territory to date aggregated to 92,821 persons — 28,887 healthcare workers, 16,629 frontline staff and 47,305 members of the public.