Dist logs 217 Covid cases, tally inches closer to 7K

Coimbatore: The district reported 217 new cases of Covid19 on Sunday, taking the count to 6,670, of which 1,665 are active cases. The toll, meanwhile, touched 125 as the state included 13 more deaths that occurred in the district in the past two days in its bulletin.
A health official said they have been witnessing an increase in the number of patients with symptoms.“During the initial days of Covid-19 outbreak, most of the patients were asymptomatic. The pattern changed gradually and a few weeks ago we started seeing more patients had mild symptoms. Now, the number of patients with symptoms has risen to 30%-40% of the daily count. And at least 10%-15% of them suffer from high temperature, cough and breathing difficulties.”
The official said most of the patients who succumbed to the virus were aged above 50 years and had comorbidities. “We have data for 120 patients who died of Covid-19. Only 12 of them were aged below 50 years. At least 86 patients had comorbidities. Among the 13 deaths reported on Sunday too, only one was below 50 years. Nine of them had comorbidities.”
Of the 217 new cases, the official said, 167 were reported from the city corporation limits, 15 from Sulur and 14 from Mettupalayam. In city limits, Ramanathapuram, PN Puthur and Selvapuram, among other areas, saw fresh cases.
“Close to 90% of the cases was identified through contact tracing and fever camps that were conducted by the city corporation. There is a slight shift in the geographical position of the virus spread. Earlier, most of the cases were reported from the city limits. Now, we are seeing a sprout in cases from semi-urban areas such as Mettupalayam and Thondamuthur,” the official said.
Meanwhile, 185 patients recovered and were discharged from the facilities they were undergoing treatment on Sunday. The total number of cured patients now stands at 4,880.
The neighbouring Tirupur district reported 42 fresh cases on Sunday, taking the tally to 1,154, of which 330 are active cases. The district has reported two Covid-19 deaths – a 23-year-old man, who was admitted to Tirupur government hospital on August 2 and died on Friday and a 73-year-old man, who was admitted to the hospital on Friday and died on Saturday – taking the toll to 23.