Tamil Nadu's Covid-19 count breaches 46,000-mark with 1,843 fresh cases

The total number of novel coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu today surpassed the grim milestone of 46,000 to reach 46,504 confirmed Covid-19 patients since the outbreak, according to state health department.

On Sunday, Tamil Nadu witnessed over 1,900 more novel coronavirus cases in a single day for the third day in a row.

Along with that, the death toll also increased to 479 after 44 fatalities were recorded since Sunday, it added.

Of the new cases reported, 13 patients (one each from Dubai, Doha and UAE, two from Malaysia and four each from Muscat and Qatar) who arrived in Tamil Nadu tested positive in the state.

There are currently 20,678 active cases.

Apart from that, a total of 25,344 patients have been discharged or cured of the highly contagious disease, including 797 patients recovered today, the state health department added.

Of these, 28,652 patients are males, 17,834 are females and 18 are transgender patients.

There are 79 functioning Covid-19 testing facilities in the state so far out of which 34 are private while the rest belong to the government.

According to the state government, a total of 18,403 samples were tested, taking to total over 7.2 lakh till date.

Taking stock of the rising coronavirus cases in the state, Tamil Nadu government on Monday announced 'maximised restricted lockdown' from 19 to 30 June in four districts of the state, including Chennai. This also includes full scale shutdown on two Sundays, the government added.

This 12-day period of intense lockdown, starting from 19 June, will cover areas of Chennai, Kanchipuram, Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur districts which come under Metropolitan Chennai Police limits, said Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami.

The southern Indian state is one of the worst-hit by the Covid-19 virus after Maharashtra, which currently has more than a lakh positive coronavirus cases.

However, until Sunday, Tamil Nadu and Delhi also saw an explosion of new cases.

India currently has more than 3.32 lakh coronavirus cases after states added over 11,000positive patients in the last 24 hours. The total number of Covid-19 cases in the country on Monday reached 332,424, while the death toll rose to 9,520 after 307 more fatalities got reported since Sunday, according to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare data.