CHENNAI: There seems to be no respite for Tamil Nadu. With 759 fresh cases, the State’s COVID-19 tally crossed the 15,000-mark, reaching 15,512, on Saturday. Five more people died, taking the toll to 103. Chennai had 625 cases, while 49 cases were among the people returning from other States and countries — including five from the Philippines and seven from the UK.
Districts neighbouring the capital city too saw a steady rise in cases, with Tiruvallur reporting 22, Chengalpattu 39 and Kancheepuram 13 new patients. All the patients who died on Saturday were from Chennai, had co-morbidities and were over 50 years of age. The city now accounts for 72 of the total deaths in the State, while it has 5,865 active cases.
As many as 74 people who returned from other countries have tested positive so far. Of tem 38 initially tested negative, but tested positive on exit after seven days. Of the 5,136 people who returned by trains till May 23, five have tested positive, while, 818 samples are still under process.
Meanwhile, 363 more people were discharged on Saturday, taking the number of discharged patients to 7,491, which is almost on par with the 7,915 cases currently active. The number of people tested so far in the State will soon reached 4 lakh, with 12,155 people being tested on Saturday alone. The number of testing labs too has risen to 68.