Tamil Nadu: 28,897 fresh cases, 236 deaths, 1.4 lakh active cases

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu on Sunday reported its highest single-day spike of Covid-19 cases, with 28,897 people testing positive and 236 deaths, pushing the net toll to 15,648.
Though the number of discharges (23,515 on Sunday) has been rising steadily, the overall recovery rate is still below 90%. As a result, the number of active cases has increased to 1,44,547.
Getting a bed in hospitals has become increasingly difficult as only 20% (12,920) of total Covid beds (64,856) are vacant as on Sunday, according to official data. Of this, only 790 are ICU beds.
The situation is worsening in hotspot Chennai, which continues to report the maximum number of new cases (7,130) and deaths (56). Only 11 ICU beds and 245 oxygen beds were available in the district, which has 32,863 active Covid patients.
“At a time when people are thronging hospitals and demanding oxygen beds irrespective of the severity, we felt the need to establish more Siddha care centres to treat mild cases,” said Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, who on Sunday inaugurated a 240-bed facility in Vyasarpadi.
He said that 12 more Siddha care centres will be opened this week so that congestion at hospitals gets reduced in the coming days. He was optimistic that the lockdown will help in bringing down the caseload.
“It is not that the cases are going to dip right from Tuesday. We might get to know the actual status only after one week. During this period, community transmission might drop. But there is a larger possibility of multiple members from the same families getting infected,” said public health expert K Kolandaisamy.
Even after two weeks, authorities should restrict entry of attenders into hospitals, not reopen theatres or dining in hotels and bar entry into shops without ventilation, he added.
Not only Chennai, cases and deaths were on the rise in other districts too, such as Coimbatore (2,509 cases and nine deaths), Madurai (1,048 cases and 14 deaths), Trichy (813 cases and 10 deaths) and Salem (639 cases and 4 deaths).