On Tuesday, for the first time since May 20, the number of Covid-19 patients discharged in a day from hospitals in Tamil Nadu was more than the number of positive cases reported. This was due to a significant decline in the number of new infections in Chennai.

On Tuesday, a record high of 4,545 Covid-19 patients were discharged, totalling 71,116, while 3,616 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours, taking the State’s total tally to 1,18,594.

The number of active cases in the State was 45,839.

Chennai saw a sharp decline in the number of infections to 1,203 (total 71,230) as against 1,747 on Monday, 1,713 on Sunday, 1,842 on Saturday and 2,082 on Friday.

In the city, 2,853 Covid-19 patients were discharged v(total of 47,735). This leaves the number of active cases at 22,374.

Total deaths due to the virus increased to 1,636 in the State (1,120 in Chennai alone) after 65 patients died on Tuesday.

Among districts, Madurai reported the highest number of infections with 334 cases, followed by Virudhunagar (253), Thiruvallur (217); Tirunelveli (181); Thoothukudi (144); Ranipet (125); Kanyakumari (119); Vellore (117); Kancheepuram (106) and the rest of the numbers distributed among other districts, including Thiruvannamalai (99), Theni (94) and Chengalpattu (87).

No dip in testing

Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said the decline in the number of cases in the city was despite the number of samples tested not being reduced. On Tuesday, 10,300 were tested in the city, he told BusinessLine .

While it is a general decline, some of the test subjects could be in the early incubation phase. “If we sustain the momentum for 10-plus days, we can come to a concrete conclusion,” he said.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami maintained that there was no community transmission of the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu. The spread of the virus through air is yet to be proved, he said here on Tuesday while inaugurating a corona care centre set up at a cost of ₹127 crore.

The 75-bed centre at the King Institute of Preventive Medicine and Research, Guindy, can handle emergencies on par with AIIMS (All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi) or JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research, Puduchery) hospitals, he said.

Due to the lockdown, the virus spread has been contained. At the same time, it is not possible to continue the lockdown for a longer period, taking into consideration the livelihood of people. Without people following the rules suggested by the government, it is difficult to contain the virus, the CM added.

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