Tamil Nadu’s daily COVID-19 case count surpassed the 30,000-mark on Wednesday, with 30,355 more people testing positive for the infection and 293 succumbing to it. The overall tally touched 14,68,864 and toll 16,471.
Four districts — Chennai, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore and Tiruvallur — accounted for 46% of the fresh infections. More than half the fatalities were reported in these districts.
Chennai accounted for 7,564 cases and 89 deaths, followed by Chengalpattu with 2,670 cases and 28 deaths. As many as 2,636 people tested positive and 18 died in Coimbatore, while there were 1,344 cases and 21 deaths in Tiruvallur.
While Madurai recorded 1,172 cases, Kanniyakumari saw 1,076. There were 961 cases in Erode and 879 in Tiruchi.
Of the 293 deceased (131 in private hospitals and 162 in government facilities), 226 had co-morbidities. Four of the deceased were in their 20s. This included a 23-year-old man from Tiruvannamalai, who had mitochondrial cytopathy, cerebellar ataxia and seizure disorder, and was admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on May 1. He died on May 10 due to COVID-19 pneumonia and respiratory failure.
A 28-year-old man from Chennai was admitted to the Government Headquarters Hospital, Walajapet, on April 30 with complaints of fever, cough, cold and difficulty in breathing. He died on May 7 due to COVID-19 pneumonia.
Fifteen people in their 30s and 37 in their 40s succumbed to the infection.
As of date, 1,72,735 people are under treatment in the State. This includes 40,613 people in Chennai, 15,178 in Coimbatore and 13,290 in Chengalpattu.
The State discharged 19,508 people after treatment on Wednesday. This included 4,782 people in Chennai, 2,406 in Chengalpattu and 1,766 people in Coimbatore. In the last 24 hours, 1,56,356 samples were tested, taking the total figure to 2,44,67,287.
Bed vacancy
A total of 11,500 beds are vacant in COVID-19 hospitals and health centres as on Wednesday. In Chennai, only 1,013 beds are vacant — 222 oxygen-supported beds, 764 non-oxygen beds and 27 ICU ones. Eleven districts, including Chengalpattu, Coimbatore and Kancheepuram, have run out of ICU beds.
Another 82,582 people, including 43,716 people in the 45-59 age group and 26,694 senior citizens, were vaccinated in the State. With this, the State’s coverage reached 66,70,927.