CHENNAI: Less than 4,000 new Covid-19 cases were reported in Tamil Nadu for the third consecutive day on Tuesday with the figure dipping from 3,536 on Monday to 3,094 on Tuesday.
With this, the State's tally increased to 6,94,030. The State also reported 50 deaths on the day taking the toll to 10,741. With another 4,403 people being discharged after treatment, the State now has 36,734 active cases.
Meanwhile, Chennai recorded less than 1,000 new cases for the second consecutive day on Tuesday. While the capital city reported 857 cases on the day, its neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, and Tiruvallur reported 191, 93, and 137 cases respectively. Cases in Cuddalore and Vellore, which used to contribute a significant number of cases to the daily tally, have also come down. Cuddalore reported 69 cases and Vellore 73.
Among the Western districts, Coimbatore reported 263 cases, Salem 169, and Tiruppur 125. While Erode reported 72 cases, Namakkal reported 95 and Nilgiris 31 respectively. Among the deceased, six did not have any comorbid conditions.
Meanwhile, the drop in new cases came alongside a drop in testing. According to the media bulletin issued on Tuesday, the State tested 80, 371 samples, and 78,903 persons on the day, a drop of nearly 10,000 from Sunday.
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Asked about the drop in testing, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said the number may have fallen due to the rains over the past two days. The rainy weather might have also contributed to lower attendance at the daily fever camps. “The number of tests per day depends on several factors and is a dynamic figure,” he said.
"Our daily average is 80,000 to 95,000 samples and we are maintaining that average. Fewer people would have come to fever camps due to the rain. Also testing numbers generally tend to fall on Sundays. It is an international phenomenon," said Radhakrishnan.
The State’s focus was not on such dynamic numbers but rather on bringing down fatalities, test positivity rate, and hospital occupancy, the official further said. "We are trying to bring these three numbers down. Similarly, a high number of cases in some districts or certain streets are a concern and we are focusing on that as well," said Radhakrishnan.
"Right now, our biggest concern is festivals. We are running campaigns to sensitize people on the importance of social distancing. We are also concentrating on workplaces and containment zones which are likely to throw up cases," the Health Secretary added.
According to the bulletin, two private labs, Life Piscell Laboratory in Palani and Soorya Diagnostics in Tiruchengode, have been approved for Covid-19 testing recently.