Recoveries mounted to 8,96,759 today with 4,920 patients being discharged, leaving 61,593 active infections, a bulletin said.

Chennai continued to constitute the major chunk of the new cases, accounting for 2,636 new infections aggregating to 2,77,300.

It leads in the number of fatalities, too, with 4,364.

A total of 97,201 samples were tested today, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 2,09,76,696.

As many as 21 districts added new infections in triple digits, indicating a sharp increase of the virus spread.

The districts, which witnessed a rise in new cases, are: Chengalpet 795 fresh cases, Coimbatore 583, Cuddalore 102, Erode 132, Kancheepuram 303, Krishnagiri 167, Madurai 167, Nagapattinam 130, Salem 214, Thanjavur 151, Thiruvallur 453, Tiruvannamalai 125, Thiruvarur 121, Tuticorin 277, Tirunelveli 214, Tiruppur 227, Tiruchirappalli 273 and Vellore 167, the bulletin said.

As many as 30 people who arrived from various destinations, including the United Arab Emirates, were among those to test positive.

Of the 33 deceased reported today, four of them succumbed without any pre-existing illness, which included a 47-year-old man from Dharmapuri, the bulletin said.

The government said a private lab in Chennai was recently accorded approval to take up COVID-19 testing, taking the total number of facilities operating in the State to 263.