For the first time since April 27, Virudhunagar district has recorded no COVID-19. The district has so far recorded 520 deaths, including 288 registered in the second wave.
The district had recorded 232 deaths till March 31in the first wave. The toll kept increasing in April, May and June till Thursday when there were no deaths reported. Only on April 26 and 27, the district had not reported any fatalities.
The daily death toll had gone as high as 15, which was recorded on May 31. “Ever since, beds at Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai and Tirunelveli Medical College Hospital got filled up, the number of deaths in the district increased, especially at various Government Hospitals,” a health official said.
However, as the demand for beds eased in the two tertiary hospitals, the number of deaths started to fall.
The lockdown since May 10 also helped in containing the spread of the viral infection. The daily case tally that touched four digits – a maximum of 1,287 cases were recorded on May 22 – gradually declined since the last week of May. In the last three days, the number of cases has been in two-digits.
On Thursday, the district recorded 82 fresh cases and 88 discharges.
Madurai district recorded 112 new COVID-19 cases to register an overall case tally of 71,793.
A total of 128 persons were discharged from hospitals and healthcare facilities in the district.
The district recorded two fatalities, with which its total death count rose to 1,077.