Tamil Nadu records 1,461 new Covid cases; 543 in Chennai

CHENNAI: Fresh cases tally dropped marginally to 1,461 compared to 1,472 on Sunday. But so did the number of tests. At least 24,739 people were tested on Monday compared to 25,591 samples drawn the previous day.
Public health officials said that daily cases are likely to increase on Tuesday and Wednesday as the weekend backlog clears. Meanwhile, active cases rose to 8,222 among which 404 people were admitted to hospitals – 140 of them in oxygen beds and 38 patients in the intensive care unit.“We are likely to see cases going up for a few more days, and the only way to keep infection under control is by following pandemic protocols such as maintaining social distance and wearing a mask,” said the director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam.

Of the 1,461 new cases, Chennai reported 543 followed by 240 in Chengalpet, 181 in Coimbatore, 75 in Tiruvallur, 62 in Kanyakumari and 47 in Kancheepuram. Barring Dharmapuri and Sivaganga all other districts reported new cases of viral infection. Two passengers one each from Indonesia and Kuwait tested positive for the viral infection at the international airport, while one passenger who travelled from Karnataka by road, tested also positive.
Of the 8,222 active cases, 3,616 were in Chennai and 1,443 were in Chengalpet. Together, the Chennai region (Chennai, Chengalpet, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram)had nearly 70% of the active cases in the state. Of the 5,836 active cases in the region, 258 people were in hospitals. “Most people have a mild form of the infections – a cold and sore throat with fever and body pain – or they are symptomless. They are advised home quarantine,” said health minister Ma Subramanian.