Tamil Nadu recorded 688 positive cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday. Among the new cases, 87 patients were returnees to the state from other states as well as foreign countries. This takes the total number of positive cases in the state to 12,448. Of the 601 cases from the state (non-returnees), 552 tested positive in Chennai.
The state reported three deaths; 489 people were discharged upon recovery on Tuesday. The state tested 10,333 samples from 9,844 people. This, a day after Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar refuted Opposition allegations that tests in the state have come down.
According to the daily bulletin from the Health and Family Welfare Department, the three people who succumbed to the coronavirus had underlying comorbid conditions.
A 64-year-old male from Thiruvallur with ‘carcinoma stomach with hepatic metastasis’ and diabetes died at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Monday at 1.30 pm. A 72-year-old male from Chennai with hypothyroidism and diabetes, referred from a private hospital, died at RGGGH on Monday at 11.50 pm due to respiratory failure and COVID-19.
An 82-year-old man from Chennai died at RGGGH on Monday at 6.05 pm due to respiratory failure and COVID-19 pneumonia.
Air passengers, tested positive at the Chennai airport, are diverted to their respective districts.
Of the 601 cases recorded in the state on Tuesday, Chennai reported the highest number of cases at 552. This was followed by Chengalpattu with 22 cases, Kancheepuram with five cases, Thiruvallur with eight cases, Thanjavur with three cases, Kanyakumari and Ramanathapuram with two cases each and Dindigul, Kallakuruchi, Nagapattinam, Ranipet, Theni, Thoothukudi and Trichy with one case each.
23 from Dubai who flew into the state via Fly Dubai tested positive on Tuesday. 13 from Dubai, Kuwait and Malaysia had initially tested negative and then turned positive on their exit test. Tuesday's figures included one case of a returnee from Maldives. 49 who returned from Maharashtra and one from Kerala tested positive on Tuesday.
On Monday, the lockdown was relaxed for orange and green zone districts. The relaxation included permission for functioning of stand-alone shops, government and private offices with 50% workforce, TASMAC shops and intra-district bus travel.