As TN’s Covid tally crosses 4.5 lakh, Health officials say real challenge has started


Chennai: With Tamilnadu posting around 6,000 Covid-19 cases on a daily basis and with the total number of infections crossing 4.5 lakh on Friday evening, Health department officials of the State say they hope to control the spread in the next couple of weeks.

“The real challenge has started now with lockdown measures being relaxed. We have redevised our strategies accordingly and are following the method of ‘test, track, treat”. We are expecting good results in the next few weeks,’ said a senior official.

Tamilnadu reported 5,976 new Covid-19 cases, 6,334 discharges and 79 deaths in the last 24 hours, State Health Department said on Friday evening.The total number of active cases now stands at 51,633.

The Health Department said 3,92,507 patients have been discharged and 7,687 have succumbed to the virus. The State’s tally touched 4,51,827.

While Chennai, along with a majority of the northern districts, accounted for nearly half of the fresh infections, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur had 370 and 260 cases respectively. In Tiruvannamalai, 215 persons tested positive, while districts such as Kancheepuram, Ranipet and Vellore had 100-plus case

Coimbatore added 595 new cases taking the fresh cases in the eight-district western region to 1,328. Salem added 239 followed by Erode with 121 cases.