Tamil Nadu records 17,321 new infections; no fresh vax stock yet

CHENNAI: Fresh Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu came down to 17,321 on Wednesday, when deaths were stable at 405. The case tally was 22.9 lakh and cumulative death toll reached 28,170. After more than 31,000 discharges, the state had 2.04 lakh people in the active cases registry.

Barring Theni, Pudukottai and Sivaganga, all districts reported at least one death each and 17 of them had deaths in two digits. While Coimbatore reported 62 deaths, Chennai reported 52 and Chengalpet reported 29. "The average number of deaths is steadily coming down - from 480 deaths at the end of May, we are reporting around 420 a day now," said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. "We are also seeing a rapid fall in cases across districts but we have a long way to go," he said.
Positivity rate and new cases: The state's weekly average test positivity rate is hovering around 13.2%, while it is around 6.3% in Chennai. Nearly 23 districts including Coimbatore (29.9%), Tirupur (24.9%), Erode (23%) and Theni (21.5%) have TPR above state average. On Wednesday, Coimbatore reported 2,319 cases followed by Erode (1,405) and Chennai (1,345). All other districts reported less than 1,000 cases. Sivaganga reported the least cases - 117, followed by Ramanathapuram (127) and Perambalur (133).Ariyalur and Coimbatore were the only districts with more than 75% bed occupancy. "Lockdown was a bitter medicine, but a powerful one," said health minister Ma Subramanian. "From more than 35,000 cases a day, cases have come down to 17,000. Beds are now available in several districts," he said.
Vaccination remains low, no fresh stock: The state did not receive any fresh stock of vaccine on Wednesday when 12,609 people were vaccinated in government centres and 2.8 lakh took the jab in private centres, up from Tuesday's 2.6 lakh. Vaccination centres in most districts were closed as they did not have adequate stock. Officials said they did not when they will receive the next stock.
Management and treatment of black fungus: At least 1,052 people have been identified to have mucormycosis in the state and each of them require two weeks of treatment. "The state has sought 35,000 vials of the medicine from the Centre and has so far received 3,060 vials. But the state has been offering treatment to all patients in special wards," he said.