TN’s highest one-day tally of 1,927 takes count beyond 36k

TN’s highest one-day tally of 1,927 takes count beyond 36k

26,000 In City; 19,333 Patients Cured So Far

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:11.06.2020

Tamil Nadu reported nearly 2,000 new Covid-19 infections on Wednesday, its highest single-day count, and crossed the grim milestone of 36,000 cases, nearly 26,000 in Chennai alone.

Nineteen deaths were reported, taking the toll to 326. But this number does not include the 236 deaths till June 8 in Chennai that were recorded by the city’s civic body but not included in the state’s count. A 11-member panel of experts is investigating how this happened.

At the Covid-19 control rooms, health officials were counting vacant beds in hospitals, transferring and recruiting more doctors and health workers for Chennai, and mapping out red and buffer zones for micro-containment plans.

Chennai’s tally of 25,937 cases account for nearly 70% of the state’s tally, which touched 36,841 with the 1,927 cases reported on Wednesday. So far, 19,333 people have been cured and discharged from various hospitals across the state. The state has 17,179 people under treatment.

It took two months for Tamil Nadu to record 5,000 cases ever since the first case on March 7. It then took 16 more days to cross 15,000 and another 11 days to breach 25,000. Since then the state has added another 10,000 cases in just a week.

The state has added 14,518 cases since June 1, and the doubling period during the time has dropped from 16 days to two weeks. During the same time Chennai added 11,095 cases and the doubling period dropped to 13 days.

All medical college hospitals were at full capacity and those in peripheral hospitals were filling up fast.

DRESSED TO SAVE: These mannequins at a city showroom show that masks have become part of our everyday fashion wear

Recovered cases exceed active ones

The nationwide Covid-19 tally neared 2.8 lakh on Wednesday. The number of recovered patients, however, has exceeded active cases for the first time. Since June 1, 90,000 cases have been added to the national tally of confirmed cases, while nearly one-third of the overall death toll has also been reported during these 10 days.

1,239 new doctors to be appointed

The CM on Wednesday ordered appointment of 1,239 doctors and 2,834 healthcare workers on a contract basis for a three-month period. This is in addition to the 530 doctors, 4,893 nurses, 2,715 health inspectors appointed earlier. The salaries of doctors will vary between ₹60,000 and ₹75,000 a month. Lab technicians will be paid ₹15,000.

All hosps to keep 5 beds on standby: Health secretary

Data from the state dashboard showed that 68% of beds in private institutions were vacant, though some such as Apollo Hospitals, Greams Road, Kauvery Hospital and Fortis Hospitals had no vacant beds.

“We have told all hospitals to keep at least five beds on standby for emergency. There are 13,000 private hospital beds. We are slowly asking hospitals to set aside more beds for Covid care,” said health secretary Beela Rajesh. Meanwhile, in the government side, the state will add at least 10,000 more beds in Chennai.

On Wednesday, Chengalpet reported 182 cases while Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram registered 108 and 33 cases, respectively. Other northern districts continued their upsurge significantly contributing to the state’s Covid count.

While Vellore had 11 cases, Ranipet had 25 and Tiruvannamalai reported 26 fresh cases. In the south, Tuticorin recorded the highest increase of 23 cases, followed by Madurai which had ten fresh cases. The western region which was Covid free for a long time has begun reporting new cases every day. In Coimbatore one person was reported positive on Wednesday, while Dharmapuri and Namakkal has four each. Nilgiris and Tirupur, however, have no cases.

Four of the 19 people who died had no comorbidities. The youngest patient was a 38-year-old man with chronic kidney disease admitted to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on June 5. He died a day after the test results turned negative on June 8. There were 13 people above the age of 60 and five in their 50s.

Chengalpet on Wednesday reported 182 cases, while Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram registered 108 and 33 cases. The western region, which was Covid free for a long time, has begun reporting new cases every day