Tamil Nadu reports 5,488 new Covid-19 cases; positivity rate plunges below 10%

Tamil Nadu on Friday registered 5,488 new coronavirus cases taking the tally to 5,30,908 while the toll mounted to 8,685 with 67 more fatalities.

The Covid-19 positivity rate in Tamil Nadu declined below 10 per cent from 30 percent"for the first time," state Health Minister Dr C Vijaya Baskar said.

Active cases in the state continued to dip and stood at 46,506 as 5,525 patients were discharged from various hospitals and in total 4,75,717 people have been cured so far.

The capital city of Chennai added 989 fresh cases today while Coimbatore (543), Salem (288), Chengalpet (265), Tiruvallur (258,) and Kancheepuram (151) also reported high caseloads.

The rest were scattered across other districts, a Health department bulletin said.

Of the over 5.30 lakh plus positive cases in the State, Chennai contributed for 1,53,616.

Talking to reporters at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital here after unveiling a 120-bedded Covid-19 Suspected Ward facility, the Minister said, "throughout Tamil Nadu the positivity rate declined to less than 10 per cent from 30 per cent."

"We will continue to aggressively test for coronavirus and also focus attention on the Covid-19 suspects," he said.

The new initiative would address the problems arising out of the persons who test negative after undergoing RT-PCR tests, he added.

On Friday, among those who succumbed to the virus, 60 had comorbidities while the remaining seven were without such issues.

The deceased included a 36-year old woman from Cuddalore and 40-year old woman from Nagapattinam.

Three of the deceased were nonagenarians while 43 of those succumbed to the virus were between the age of 60 years and 89 years, the bulletin said.

Baskar said, "some people who have tested negative through the RT PCR (Real-Time Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction) may show symptoms like lung infection. So, we have created an exclusive ward at the RGGGH to treat the suspected cases."

The facility would be extended to other medical college hospitals across the state, he added.

He said, so far 2,34,087 Covid-19 tests have been done at the government hospital, which has a bed strength of 1,618 while 23,385 patients were treated.

The Minister said, "Tamil Nadu is the leading state in coronavirus treatment. The government has created 1.42 lakh beds including 40,000 observation beds at the government facilities in the state."

To a question, he replied that the impact of the contagion on the people especially after Tamil Nadu relaxed lockdown regulations allowing people to unrestricted inter- district travel from September 1, would be known soon.

"Right now the emphasis is on wearing face masks and maintaining social distancing," he said and added over Rs 71.8 lakh was collected as fine from about 34,260 people for violating norms on wearing masks.

Of the 5,488 new infections reported today, one was a transgender while 3,293 were men and 2,194 women patients.

As many as 85,543 samples were tested and cumulatively 63,03,466 specimens have been examined.

A private testing lab from the city has received approval to conduct Covid-19 taking the total number of facilities operating in the state to 175, the bulletin said.