TN breaches 20K mark with biggest single day spike of 874 COVID-19 cases; 9 deaths takes toll to 154

Nine more people succumbed to COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, which witnessed its highest single day spike of 874 cases taking the infection count past the 20,000 marks, the health department said on Friday. With the latest fatalities, the death toll in the state has risen to 154.

According to a department bulletin, the total number of positive cases stands at 20,246 till date. The number of active cases, including those people in isolation wards, was 8,776.

Friday marked the third straight day when the number of positive cases crossed the 800 marks in the state. Among the 874 cases, 141 were those who had arrived from various states, the health bulletin said.

As many as 11,313 people have been discharged in the state till date while the number of people cured today was 765. With the single biggest day surge of 618 cases, Chennai continued to lead in the number of COVID-19 cases among districts and now has a tally of 13,362 cases.

Neighboring Chengalpattu district also saw the cumulative cases touching 1,000 marks adding 61 fresh cases today. Among the fresh cases today, as many as 135 people from Maharashtra, three from Kerala, one each in West Bengal, Telangana, Karnataka tested positive for the virus.

Those who succumbed to the virus today were--five men-- two aged over 80 years and two women (all from Chennai), a 77-year-old man from Thiruvallur and a woman of the same age from neighboring Chengalpattu. The state capital also leads in the number of those who died due to COVID-19 with 113 rpt 113, followed by 11 each from Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur districts.

Children below the age of 12 years who contracted the contagion were numbering 1,203 while as many as 1,806 people above the age of 60 have tested positive for the virus, the bulletin said.