Tamil Nadu reports over 23,000 fresh Covid cases, Chennai’s count at 8,591

Chennai recorded 8,591 fresh infections, taking its overall tally to 652395. A total of nine deaths were recorded in the past 24 hours. The city has 60,126 active cases and the positivity rate, as of Sunday, reached 29.7 per cent.

Chengalpet (2236), Coimbatore (2042), Tiruvallur (1018), Kanyakumari (831), Kancheepuram (766), Madurai (640), and Tiruppur (605) were the other cities that contributed to the maximum number of fresh cases.

Talkin to reporters earlier on Monday, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian said though there are around 1.91 lakh beds available for treatment, only 8,900 of them have been occupied. He said the state has a well-developed medical infrastructure and hence people need not worry about the availability of beds or medicines. Urging people to wear masks and get vaccinated, he said most people who succumbed to the virus were not jabbed.

He also said Tamil Nadu has achieved 100 per cent first dose vaccination for students aged between 15-18 years in state-run schools. He added that they are on the process of achieving the same feat with ITI, polytechnic and other students in private institutions. In total, 76 per cent students in the 15-18 age bracket have been vaccinated (first dose) in Tamil Nadu and it is a matter of big satisfaction, he said.

The Greater Chennai Corporation has appointed an additional 535 Covid-19 volunteers, with five of them being allotted to each of the seven zones—Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Tiru Vi ka Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar—where the case numbers are higher. Earlier, the civic body had appointed 1,000 volunteers, each 200 ward in the city being allotted five of them. Now, a total of 1,535 will be on duty to assist those for patients in home quarantine.

Meanwhile, the union territory of Puducherry added 907 fresh Covid-19 cases during the last 24 hours, pushing the caseload up to 1,38,617. The test positivity rate increased to 57.44 per cent. A total of 801 new cases were identified in Puducherry district, 77 in Karaikal, eight in Mahe and 21 in Yanam. With three deaths, the toll reached 1,890.

The number of active cases stood at 8,359, with 130 patients undergoing treatment in hospitals and the remaining 8,299 being in home isolation.