Puducherry witnesses highest single-day Covid-19 spike with 481 cases

Puducherry on Wednesday registered its highest single-day spurt of 481 coronavirus cases and five deaths, taking the overall tally in the union territory to 6,381.

Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told a virtual press conference that the identification of 481 cases after examination of 1,123 samples during last 24 hours was 'shocking' and highest on a single day so far. He noted that Puducherry accounted for 413 of the new cases, while Yanam reported 67 and Mahe one case.

Five people died of the disease, taking the toll to 96. The patients were in the age group ranging between 41 and 90 years. Two of the deceased were male patients and the remaining were female, the Minister said.

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Of the overall Covid-19 cases, the active cases were 2,616, total patients treated and discharged were 3,669. Health Minister said 49,715 samples were tested so far, out of which 42,771 tested negative.

He said the results of remaining samples was on and results were awaited. "The positive cases would increase further. I have been insisting total lock down for some days to contain the spread of the pandemic. I hope the Chief Minister who would chair a meeting of the State level Disaster Management Authority later in the day would take appropriate decision`, the Health Minister said.

The rate of positivity was 38.6 per cent while death rate was 1.5 per cent and recovery rate was 57.9 per cent in the Union Territory.