Positivity rate rises to 12.2%, active cases at all-time high

Coimbatore: The district recorded its highest-ever single-day spike in Covid-19 cases on Saturday, when 1,257 people were declared positive for the virus, even as the tally increased to 79,669, just 331 short of another milestone of 80,000-mark. The daily test positivity rate also shot up to 12.2%, with 1,257 of the 10,224 samples testing positive.
The number of active Covid cases in the district too touched an all-time high of 7,288, with only 913 patients getting discharged from treatment centres on the day. The recovery rate in the district, where 71,658 of the infected have survived the virus attack, stands at 89.9%.
Officially, the Covid-19 toll in the district rose to 723 with a 63-year-old woman, who was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on April 25, succumbing to the virus. She didn’t have any comorbidities and died of acute respiratory distress syndrome and bilateral bronchopneumonia on Thursday (April 29).
However, officials said the district had actually recoded a double-digit toll on Thursday alone. According to a source, at least two thirds of the victims were residents of the district, while the remaining were the patients who had come for treatment from other districts. The government hasn’t added them in the health bulletin so far.
An official said some of the victims were brought to the CMCH after meeting with accidents or attempting suicides and declared brought dead. “They were found to be positive for the virus during postmortem. Hence, they were not included in the list. Others died of respiratory distress but tested negative in the RT-PCR tests. Such cases are considered suspected Covid deaths.”
Another official said the number of deaths on Saturday was also too high that they didn’t have enough dead body bags to pack them.
Despite the spike in Covid-19 cases, the officials said 36% of the beds (1,493 of the 5,871 beds) in hospitals was vacant as on Saturday. While 638 of them were in the government sector, the remaining 855 were in the private sector. In a bid to increase the bed availability, officials have roped in at least six new hospitals for Covid treatment. With this, the number of hospitals handling Covid patients has increased to 47 from 41.
In an alarming trend, oxygen and ventilator beds are getting filled up rapidly. As on Saturday, 628 out of the 796 oxygen beds and 222 of the 239 ventilator beds were occupied in the government sector. In the private sector, 376 oxygen beds and 66 ventilator beds are still available. “If patients come to our triage centres in the ESI Hospital and Ramanathapuram, it will be easier for us to allot them beds based on their requirement,” an official told TOI.