Tamil Nadu’s coronavirus tally crosses 2,000; Chennai emerges on top

Tamil Nadu reported another massive spike in the number of positive Covid-19 patients with swab samples of 121 persons rendering positive on Tuesday alone, making the total tally cross 2,000 mark. The total tally now stands at 2,058, including 25 deaths and 1,128 discharges.

Chennai continued to be the hotspot with more than 80 per cent of Tuesday’s patients belonging to the city – 103, including a 7-month-old baby, tested positive for Coronavirus, taking the city’s tally to 673. The growing number of positive cases in this metropolis is a major cause of concern though the Greater Chennai Corporation and the Health Department have intensified their containment activities.

Out of the 103, who tested positive in Chennai, at least 13 are primary cases with no contact or travel history so far. Three children under the age of 5 are among the 103 patients in this city. The number of cases in Chennai have been witnessing a massive spike for the past few days – authorities have shifted the retail division of the famous Koyambedu market after two vendors tested positive for Covid-19.

The government had stepped up containment activities by spraying disinfectant in almost all parts of the city, which is under an intensified lockdown since April 26. Officials attribute the density of population in Chennai for the spike in numbers and fear the number could only increase in the coming days.

The number of discharges also took a slide on Tuesday with just 21 patients leaving hospitals across the state – the number had been above 50 for the past few days. As on Tuesday, the number of discharges in the state stood at 1,128 with 902 active cases.

The state also crossed 1 lakh mark in testing of samples with 1,01,874 samples being sent for testing at 41 labs across the state. “2,058 persons have tested positive till date, while 97,908 samples were tested negative. Testing of 1,908 samples are under process and 8,685 samples are repeat samples,” an update from the Health Department said.

The state went in for “aggressive testing” from April 12 after the cases crossed the 1,000 mark.