Karur: A nonagenarian died of novel coronavirus-related complications at Karur Government Medical College Hospital today, taking the toll to 12 in Tamilnadu.
District Collector T.Anbalagan confirmed the death of 96-year-old man, a resident of Dindigul, who had tested positive for COVID-19 and was admitted to the Isolation ward of the hospital.
This is the first case of death due to coronavirus infection in the district. He said the body of the deceased would be buried as per the government protocols.
However, the State Health department was yet to confirm the death. The first death was reported in Madurai on 26 March and two more deaths were reported on April four (Villuppuram and Theni) and two at Government Stanley Medical College Hospital here on April five. One death each has been reported on April six, seven and eight.
A 70-year-old woman from Tuticorin died on April ten at the Government Hospital, while an elderly man died at IRT Perunthurai in Erode district on 11 April taking the toll to 10, which later increased to 11 following
the death of the Chennai Pulianthope woman, which was confirmed by the Health Department on 12 April.
Now with the death of a nonagenarian in Karur, the toll increased to 12 today, though the Health Department was yet to confirm the Collector’s announcement.
As there has been exponential increase in corona cases, which has touched 1,173 in 34 districts of the State, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami yesterday announced extension of the lockdown by two weeks till 30 April to combat the spread of coronavirus.
Of the total positive cases, 31 were children below the ten years of age. Chennai continued to remain on the top of the chart with 208 cases, followed by Coimbatore (126), Tiruppur (79), Erode (64), Dindugul and Tirunelveli
(56 each), Chengelpat (46), Namakkal (45), Trichy (43), Theni (41), Karur (40) and Madurai (39).
Of the total 1,173 cases, 1,062 were from ‘single source contact’, linked to last month’s Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi. The number of positive cases linked to Delhi meet stood at 971 on Sunday.
Yesterday of the 98 fresh cases reported in the State, 91 were from the same source (Nizamuddin Markaz).
With this the number of positive cases linked to Delhi meet, including the participants and their contacts, went up to 1,062 so far.