COVID-19 claims 298 more lives in Tamil Nadu

A total of 298 persons died of COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, with Chennai alone accounting for 92 deaths, even as the State reported 29,272 fresh cases on Tuesday, taking its overall tally to 14,38,509.

With 7,466 fresh cases, Chennai’s overall tally surpassed the four lakh-mark. So far, 4,04,733 persons have tested positive in the city. The overall tally of both Chengalpattu and Coimbatore went past one lakh with these districts recording 2,419 and 2,650 fresh cases respectively.

Deaths among youth

Of the 298 deaths that took the State’s toll to 16,178, Chengalpattu and Coimbatore accounted for 19 fatalities each. Salem reported 18 deaths, Tiruvallur, 17, and Madurai, 13.

The number of young persons dying of the contagion is steadily rising.

According to the daily bulletin issued by the Department of Health, 67 persons who died were in the age group of 20-49, five in their 20s, 14 in their 30s and 48 in their 40s.

A 25-year-old man from Coimbatore, who had no co-morbidities, was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital on May 8. He died the next day of cardio-respiratory arrest, acute respiratory distress syndrome and bilateral bronchopneumonia. A 30-year-old woman from Madurai died at the Government Rajaji Hospital on May 8 owing to COVID-19 pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Chennai’s toll stands at 5,368, while Chengalpattu has recorded 1,091 deaths so far.

The number of active cases stands at 1,62,181. Of them, 37,713 patients are under treatment in Chennai, followed by 14,324 in Coimbatore and 13,038 in Chengalpattu.

A total of 19,182 persons were discharged after treatment. They included 4,583 persons in Chennai, 2,366 in Chengalpattu, 1,723 in Coimbatore and 1,309 in Tiruvallur. So far, 12,60,150 persons have been discharged.

Bed vacancies

In the last 24 hours, 1,56,111 samples were tested. So far, 2,43,10,931 samples have been tested.

There were 11,867 vacant beds in the State at COVID-19 health centres and hospitals — 3,336 oxygen beds, 8,022 non-oxygen beds and 509 intensive care unit beds.

As on Tuesday, the total number of earmarked COVID-19 beds were 33,272 oxygen beds, 26,536 non-oxygen beds and 8,325 ICU beds.

Vaccination drive

A total of 79,929 persons, including 40,534 persons aged 45-59 and 26,264 senior citizens, were vaccinated.

The overall coverage stood at 65,88,345. The vaccination was held at 2,789 sessions — Covishield at 2,487 sessions and Covaxin at 302 sessions, according to the daily report issued by the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.