Chennai: An aged woman died of Coronavirus pandemic in Tamilnadu, taking to toll to nine, even as 77 fresh positive cases were reported today, taking the tally to 911.
Chief Secretary K Shanmugam told reporters here that a 70-year-old woman from Poldenpuram in Tuticorin district, who was admitted to the isolation ward in the Government Hospital and tested positive, died this evening, taking the number of deaths to nine.
Meanwhile, 77 fresh cases were reported today of them 72 had contracted the virus from five people who had tested positive after attending the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi last month. All the 77 cases today were reported from already isolated areas, where COVID-19 positive patients resided.
He said the family members of all those tested positive were subjected to testing to prevent spread of the corona pandemic.
Stating that 71 people with Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) were tested in the last 24 hours, Shanmugam said 66 of them tested negative and the results of the other five were awaited.
Going by the present statistics, the coronavirus was only in Stage-2 in Tamilnadu and that it has not progressed to Stage-3 (Community transmission), he said, adding, a total of 44 persons were discharges after treatment.
“Only if the corona source of any positive tested patient cannot be traced, it can be deemed as progressed to Stage-3…at present it is in Stage-2 only in the State,” Shanmugam said, adding, the government was taking all steps to prevent it from progressing to Stage-3.
Tamilnadu is now second on India’s COVID-19 chart behind Maharashtra, where it inched towards the 1,400 mark.