Five more succumb to coronavirus in Pondy, toll climbs to 75

Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release that with 244 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours ending 10 am on Friday. Most of the patients who died of the viral infection had co-morbidities.

The district collector of Karaikal was among the 244 people who tested positive for COVID-19, while five, including three women, died of the disease as the tally rose to 4,862 in Puducherry on Friday. Director of Health and Family Welfare S Mohan Kumar said in a release that with 244 new cases being reported in the last 24 hours ending 10 am on Friday.

Most of the patients who died of the viral infection had co-morbidities. The deceased were in the age group of 65 and 85 years.

Karaikal District Collector Arjun Sharma also tested positive for coronavirus and is kept under home isolation as he is asymptomatic. The collectorate has been temporarily closed for disinfection.

A domestic help in the collector's residence tested positive on August 5 following which the collector and his family members underwent the test, a district official said. All those who participated in a function with Sharma on August 5, including Education Minister R Kamalakannan have been advised home quarantine.

In addition, all those who visited the collectorate between August 2 and 6 have been asked to quarantine themselves for 14 days. There are 1,873 active cases in Puducherry out of the total 4,862 patients, including 567 home quarantined patients, the Director said.

Total patients who were treated and discharged were 2,914 and fatalities were 75. The 244 new cases were identified after examination of 856 samples during last 24 hours, of whom 233 are in hospitals in Puducherry, 10 in government hospital in Karaikal and one in Yanam region.

Puducherry now has a positivity rate of 28.5 percent while rate of fatality is 1.5 percent. He said 77 patients were discharged from hospitals during last twenty four hours.

Of the 45,098 samples tested so far 39,554 were found to be negative and results of examination of remaining samples were awaited..