Tamil Nadu: New Covid cases dip to 1,956; active cases up slightly for 4th straight day

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu on Sunday reported 1,956 new Covid-19 cases, which pushed the case tally to 25.75 lakh.
At the end of the day, 1,807 patients were discharged from the Covid registry and there were 20,407 people under treatment for the viral infection. For the fourth consecutive day, the number of active cases is on the rise in the state.
Coimbatore reported 241 new cases – the highest in the state -- followed by Chennai (187), Erode (185) and Chengalpattu (105). All other districts reported cases in double digits. Among other cities Trichy reported 69 cases and Madurai had 17 new cases.
In Chennai, the daily corona positive cases continued to hover around the 180 to 200-mark for the past 10 days. The test positivity rate remains 0.8 % with 25,000-odd samples tested every day.
Against this backdrop, restrictions imposed at nine major markets and shopping areas in Chennai came to an end on Sunday and they are all set to be reopened on Monday with stricter guidelines. This included T Nagar, Purasawalkam and Zam Bazaar.
The death toll, including 28 deaths, took the total toll to 34,317 -- third highest in the country next to Maharashtra (1,33,996) and Karnataka (36,793).
Among the 28, only four had no comorbidities.
"Nearly 60% of Covid victims had diabetes, hypertension or were obese. While these patients in urban areas were able to buy medicines from nearby health centres easily, those in rural areas found it difficult to access medicines on time. The government's recent 'Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam Scheme' is aimed at addressing this gap,” said health minister Ma Subramanian.