CHENNAI: Coronavirus positive cases plunged below 18,000 in Tamil Nadu with 17,321 fresh infections being reported on Wednesday, and the recoveries rose to 31,253.
The fatalities slightly dipped to 405 - 169 in private hospitals and 236 in government facilities - taking the total toll so far to 28,170.
Coimbatore topped with 2,319 new infections and 62 deaths and a total of 4,992 people were discharged, according to the state health bulletin here.
Next to Coimbatore, Erode district reported a maximum of 1,405 fresh infections followed by the States capital with 1,345 new cases and 52 fatalities.
There were 10 deaths in Erode district. The number of persons testing positive till date is 22,92,025 and the number of active cases, including isolation, is 2,04,258.
With 31,253 COVID-19 positive patients getting discharged after treatment today, the total recoveries till date stood at 20,59,597.
Chennai, which accounted for 1,345 new cases, has 14,678 active cases. The metros overall COVID-19 tally is 5,20,877 positive cases.
The total recoveries stood at 4,98,586 while 7,613 are the fatalities. Salem reported 957 new infections followed by Tiruppur with 913 cases, Chengalpattu: 726, Thanjavur: 685 and Tiruchirapalli: 510.
The remaining districts reported new infections in less than 500. Meanwhile, refuting a charge by the leader of the opposition AIADMK in the Assembly K Palaniswami that COVID-19 as cause of death is not mentioned in the death certificates, the State Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said the government has been following the ICMR guideline on certifying the COVID deaths.
Patients, who get admitted with coronavirus symptoms, recover after successful treatment. In certain cases, some patients get admitted to hospitals after complication like breathlessness sets in.
Though they test positive initially, after treatment they turn negative but succumb to some other causes like heart attack, the Minister told reporters here.
Citing the case of late veteran singer S P Balasubrahmanyam and late Congress MP H Vaantha Kumar, Subramanian said, These were two instances of people testing negative after treatment. Hence, their mortal remains were handed over to their relatives." Both these deaths occurred during the AIADMK regime, the Minister said adding that Palaniswami who had been the Chief Minister should be aware that the state government follows ICMR guidelines.
To a question, he replied that the complete lockdown and inoculation were the major factors responsible for the decline in coronavirus cases in the State.
We are hopeful that the Centre will meet our demands for vaccine doses, the Minister said when asked about the additional allotment from the Union government.