Tamil Nadu recorded 509 cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, taking the total number of cases in the state to 9,227. Of the 509 cases, 380 cases are from Chennai. Three patients succumbed to the disease on Wednesday while 42 were discharged following treatment. Wednesday’s figures include five passengers who returned from foreign countries.
At present, the state has 6,984 active cases. According to a media bulletin from the Health and Family Welfare Department, 12,780 samples were tested on Wednesday from 12,666 people. The foreign returnees have been categorised as ‘airport quarantine’, as per the bulletin.
A 41 year-old male from Chennai with diabetes died on Tuesday at 04.30 am due to respiratory failure at the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital. A 43-year-old male from Chennai with diabetes, referred from a private hospital, died on Wednesday at 05.50 am due to pneumonia and respiratory failure at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH). The third patient, a 48-year-old male from Chennai with hypertension, admitted on Tuesday at RGGGH, died at 03.30 pm due to bilateral pneumonia and respiratory failure.
As per the break up of cases in the districts, Ariyalur recorded four cases, Chengalpattu recorded 25 cases, Cuddalore recorded 17 cases, Kancheepuram recorded 4 cases, Karur, Madurai and Nagapattinam recorded two cases each, Perambalur, Thoothukudi and Thanjavur recorded one case each, Theni recorded 5 cases, Tiruvallur recorded 25 cases, Tiruvannamalai recorded 23 cases, Tirunelveli recorded 5 cases and Villupuram recorded 7 cases.
Prior to the announcement of the COVID-19 figures, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami addressed the press. The Chief Minister blamed vendors at the Koyambedu fruit and vegetable market for the spike in COVID-19 cases in Chennai. The Chief Minister said the lack of cooperation from vendors to allow the decentralisation of the market resulted in the emergence of the Koyambedu market cluster.