This story is from July 1, 2020

Tamil Nadu count past 90,000; recovery rate also up

Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally breached the 90,000-mark with 3,943 new infections reported on Tuesday. Sixty more deaths in the last 24 hours pushed the state’s toll to 1,201. On a positive note, the number of people discharged after treatment crossed 50,000, a recovery rate of 55%.
Tamil Nadu count past 90,000; recovery rate also up
A doctor takes a swab to test for the coronavirus disease at primary health center in Chennai
CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 tally breached the 90,000-mark with 3,943 new infections reported on Tuesday. Sixty more deaths in the last 24 hours pushed the state’s toll to 1,201. On a positive note, the number of people discharged after treatment crossed 50,000, a recovery rate of 55%.
Epidemologist P Kuganantham, Covid-19 expert committee member, said “Increase in recovery rate means we have improved our treatment system in government hospitals and monitoring has been better.”
As per official data, percentage of patients who died within 24 hours of hospitalisation fell from 54% in May to 35% now.
According to the epidemologist, “Patients, particularly those with comorbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and kidney ailments, were tested and taken early to hospitals with the help of field workers and so they recovered fast.”
On Tuesday, only eight of the 60 deaths were reported within 24 hours of hospitalisation. And 65% of the deceased were aged above 60. Except for a 61-year-old man from Chengalpet, all the others had comorbidities.
The state has so far tested more than 1.1 million people till date and is planning to continue the testing around 30,000 people daily, said a state health department official.
Despite complete lockdown in place, Chennai and its three neighbouring districts reported around 2,800 new cases on Tuesday, taking the tally to 69,553. This was 77% of the state’s case load.
Madurai -- another district in which complete lockdown was imposed -- reported more than 200 new cases a day for fourth day in a row. The southern district so far recorded 2,557 cases till date.
Other southern districts such ae Theni (75) and Sivagangai (50) too had more than 50 new cases on Tuesday. Northern districts such as Vellore (69), Kallakurichi (66) and Cuddalore (53) too fell in the same category.
A total of 87 people who returned from other states and abroad countries by air, rail and road tested positive on Tuesday. Nearly 30 of them were from Chhattisgarh.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA