Covid-19 cases in Chennai cross 50,000; Tamil Nadu death toll hits 1,000

The number of Covid-19 cases in this metropolis zoomed past the 50,000-mark on Saturday, which also saw Tamil Nadu recording its biggest single-day spike in persons testing positive for coronavirus and those losing their lives after battling the virus.

As many as 3,713 individuals, including 89 who returned from abroad and other states, tested positive on Saturday alone, pushing the state’s tally to 78,335, including 44,094 discharges and 1,025 deaths – 68 of which were recorded by the government in the last 24 hours. The active cases stood at 33,213.

For latest updates on Coronavirus pandemic, click here

Of the 3,713 patients, as many as 1,939 belonged to Chennai, which so far accounts for 776 deaths. The city’s individual tally is 51,699 that includes 31,045 discharges. Tamil Nadu also tested 34,805 samples on Saturday, taking its total count to 10,77,454.

The state has been reporting record numbers almost every day and the increasing mortality rate is a cause of concern, experts say while warning people not to ignore symptoms as they point to statistics which say a sizeable number of people have died within hours of hospitalization.

Of the 89 “imported” cases, eight of them came from abroad, and the remaining from other states in the country. Karnataka tops the list with 40 people who returned from the neighboring state to Tamil Nadu testing positive for Coronavirus on Saturday alone.

Not just Chennai and its three neighboring districts of Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, and Kanchipuram, but districts in northern Tamil Nadu like Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet, and Villupuram also reported a massive increase in their tally.

Madurai was emerging as the newest hotspot of the state after Chennai with 218 persons testing positive on Saturday, pushing the tally to 1,703. As the state continued to report an exponential increase in Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government said it has received the first consignment of “life-saving” drugs like Tocilizumab, Remdesivir, and Enoxaparin to treat patients.

Coronavirus India update: State-wise total number of confirmed cases, deaths on June 27

Health Minister C Vijayabhaskar said these expensive drugs will be sent to districts as well for the treatment of Covid-19 patients. Saturday also saw the journalist fraternity in Tamil Nadu recording the first death due to Coronavirus with the death of a 41-year-old video journalist working with a Tamil news channel.

Vel Murugan, who was tested positive for Coronavirus, breathed his last in the wee hours of Saturday. His colleagues said the video journalist was quite active on the field during Covid-19 lockdown till he was infected with the virus.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, Opposition Leader M K Stalin, and other political leaders condoled his death. Palaniswami announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh for Vel Murugan’s family.