542 new Covid-19 cases across Tamil Nadu, 116 in Chennai; 1 dies in Puducherry

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu added 542 new cases of Covid-19 on Wednesday while the active case tally rose to 3,563.
Barring Kallakurichi and Tirupattur, all other districts reported new cases. There were 116 new cases in Chennai followed by 75 in Coimbatore, 35 in Kanyakumari, 31 in Chengalpet, 27 in Tiruppur, 27 in Salem, 26 in Tiruvallur and 20 in Ranipet. Eight districts reported between 10 and 15 new cases. Twenty-one districts reported cases in single digits. One traveller from UAE tested positive for the viral infection.
Samples were drawn from 6,094 patients for RPCR, and 13 districts had daily test positivity above the state average of 8.7 on Wednesday. The positivity rate was between 10 and 12 in nine districts.
There were 130 people admitted to hospitals on Monday. While six of them were in the ICU, 20 patients were on oxygen therapy and 104 of them were in the normal wards, the directorate of public health said.
In neighbouring Puducherry, a 78-year-old woman with comorbidities died of Covid-19. The territory reported 83 fresh Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, even as 85 patients recovered on Wednesday, bringing down the number of active cases to 500.
Nineteen patients have been admitted to hospitals while the rest are under home isolation and treatment. Puducherry accounted for 69 fresh cases followed by Karaikal and Yanam with seven each. Mahe did not report any new case. The test positivity rate on Wednesday stood at 8.7%. Healthcare authorities have so far tested 25.01 lakh samples of which 21.32 lakh samples returned negative.