Covid-19 pandemic: Active infections drop below 3,000 in Tamil Nadu

: Tamil Nadu on Sunday added 196 Covid-19 infections, including a returnee from Andhra Pradesh, pushing the cumulative tally to 34,51,013, while three more fatalities took the death toll to 38,015, the Health department said.

Recoveries outnumbered new cases with 554 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 34,10,228 leaving 2,770 active infections, a medical bulletin said.

Among districts, Chennai accounted for the majority of new coronavirus infections with 62, followed by Coimbatore 25, Chengalpet 20, while the remaining districts reported new cases in single digit.

The State capital also leads in the overall tally with 7,50,410 infections. Seven districts reported nil new cases registered in the last 24 hours.

A total of 50,298 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 6,47,11,231.

Meanwhile, Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said the government has earmarked Rs 46.50 crore to upgrade the infrastructure at the government hospital in Mayiladuthurai district.

Talking to reporters after inspecting the facilities at the hospital, he said Rs 46.50 crore has been set up to upgrade the infrastructure which include setting up of intensive care units, MRI Scan facilities among others.

On the vaccination front, he said the locals were showing hesitancy in taking the jabs and added that 80 per cent of the population in Mayiladuthurai have received the first dose, while second dose was at 56 per cent which was the lowest in the state.

He appealed to people to extend their cooperation to the district administration and to the health department by taking the vaccination shots.