Despite the state testing 2,000 more samples, the number of new Covid-19 cases reported from Tamil Nadu in the last 24 hours saw a fall, albeit marginal, compared with figures on Saturday.

On Sunday, the state screened 1.57 lakh samples, of which 30,580 tested positive; on Saturday the number stood at 30,744. The death count, however, increased from 33 to 40 during the same time period. Health minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday said that most of the victims were unvaccinated and that, unlike the second wave, the case fatality ratio is low.
In Chennai, the spread is declining. The district, which was reporting around 9,000 fresh cases last week, reported only 6,383 on Sunday. Test Positivity Rate (TPR) of the district has now dropped to 23.6% and Chennai has moved to the twelfth position in the district-wise TPR chart. ” Once the cases drop further, there will be no need for complete lockdowns on Sundays or further restrictions,” Subramanian said.
Cases, however, are increasing in districts like Coimbatore (3,912 new cases), Thiruvallur (984), Tiruppur (736), Erode (554) and Ranipet (419). As a result, the state’s average TPR is on the rise. Currently, it’s around 20%, meaning that every fifth sample tests positive. Moreover, the number of active cases in Tamil Nadu crossed the two-lakh mark. Currently, 2,00,954 are undergoing treatment.

As for health infrastructure, the government had procured 327 oxygen generators and 17,500 concentrators in anticipation of a rise in O2 demand. “TN’s current oxygen demand is around 117 Metric Tons (MTs) a day,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. It was around 530 MT a day during the second wave. Be that as it may, it is important that people don’t drop their guard, he said. Since those eligible but yet to get their booster shots are at the same risk as unvaccinated people, he requested senior citizens and frontline workers to get their precautionary dose.