Chennai, Dec 29 (PTI): Tamil Nadu recorded 739 fresh coronavirus cases and eight deaths on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases reported to 27,46,000 and the toll of fatalities to 36,758 till date.
The State reported also 46 Omicron cases, including two cases notified to Kerala and Puducherry. Of them, 27 were discharged and remaining 17 are under treatment, according to a bulletin today. The State tested 21,401 international passengers of whom 207 tested positive for coronavirus. About 129 such passengers and their contacts have been found to have S-Gene drop. Of the 46 confirmed Omicron cases from seven districts, including Chennai, three were not linked to international travellers, the bulletin said.
About 11 people, including five each from UAE and West Bengal and one Bihar, added to the 739.
With 614 COVID-19 patients getting discharged, the cumulative recoveries increased to 27,02,588. The number of active cases remain at 6,654.
Chennai recorded 294 cases followed by Coimbatore 78 and Chengalpattu with 64 new cases, the bulletin said. Three districts – Kallakurichi, Mayiladuthurai and Tenkasi – reported nil cases while five districts of Ariyalur, Dindigul, Nagapattinam, Pudukottai and Theni recorded one fresh infection each.
With 126 recoveries today, Chennai’s net recoveries rose to 5,51,668 and with three deaths, the fatalities increased to 8,651. The State capital accounted for 5,62,008 positive cases while the active cases remain at 1,689.
Earlier in the day, Health and Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian said the authorities were monitoring the cases of coronavirus positive cases and Omicron and taking steps to contain them. “The Health Department sought restriction on public gathering for New Year revelry and following strict social distancing norms sand wearing face mask to check the virus spread. Accordingly, the police department announcement on Tuesday banned public gathering,” the Minister said.
According to the Principal Secretary, Health and Family Welfare Department, Dr J Radhakrishnan, it was the typical virus behaviour for the cases to increase suddenly. “We hope the positive cases will decline soon,” he said.
Meanwhile, a press release from the Health Department said the Central government has accorded permission to the whole genome sequencing lab, established by the State government here, in September for Rs 4 crore for issuing Omicron test confirmation report. This followed efforts by the Health Minister and officials in taking up the case with the Centre.
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