Tamil Nadu recorded 3,867 new coronavirus cases on Sunday, pushing the tally to 24.96 lakh while 72 deaths in the last 24 hours mounted the toll to 33,006.

According to a medical bulletin, 4,382 people were discharged today, taking the total recoveries to 24,27,988 leaving 35,294 active infections.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister M K Stalin in a video message appealed to the people to continue following Covid-19 norms in spite of a dip in the number of cases in the state and easing of restrictions that will come into effect from July 5.

"Though we can say we have reduced the impact of the virus, we cannot say it does not remain. People should not think they need not follow COVID-19 protocols any longer just because relaxations were announced," he said. Meanwhile, the state capital accounted for 222 new infections, totaling to 5,33,432 till date.

The metropolis also leads in the number of fatalities with 8,222 deaths. As many as 28 districts reported fresh cases below 100 while there were no fresh deaths in 15 districts. The number of samples tested today was 1,57,791 pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 3.34 crore. Two people who tested positive today were returnees from Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, respectively, the bulletin said.

Among the 72 deceased, 15 of them were without commodities or pre-existing illness, the bulletin said.