Chennai: There is no let up in the number of coronavirus cases in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. Tamil Nadu reported 6,989 new cases in the last 24 hours, which is also the biggest single-day spike, government data shows. Eighty-nine have died and 7,758 have recovered in the last 24 hours. The total cases in the state is now 2,06,737. The data shows 20 have died in Chennai in the last 24 hours and 1,329 have tested positive. The recovery rate in Tamil Nadu is 73 per cent and mortality rate is 1.64 per cent.
Positive cases reported in the last 24 hours from these districts are: Thiruvallur (385), Coimbatore (270), Ranipet (244), Madurai (301), Chengalpattu (449), Virudhunagar (376), Kancheepuram (442), Vellore (212) and Tuticorin (317). The state health department is replicating the Chennai model of opening hundreds of fever clinics in districts for early detection and intervention, which has brought down Chennai's daily tally by 50 per cent. Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of coronavirus cases in India after Maharashtra. Delhi has the third-biggest cases.
Spike in Kerala
A superspreader event in the densely-populated coastal villages on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram led to a spike in infections through local transmission. Very soon, the cluster grew over a fairly large population and similar clusters mushroomed in Chellanam and Aluva in Ernakulam. Daily cases of local transmission exceeded imported infections within a week. An alarming 81% of the cases reported on July 24 were through local spread of the virus. The total number of cases leapt from 6,166 on July 8 to 16,995 on July 24, with 9,371 active infections. There were 453 containment zones, triggering discussions about a potential Statewide shutdown, but the suggestion was put on hold almost unanimously at an all-party meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
Meanwhile, Kerala witnessed a sharp decrease in flights coming into the state, especially from the Gulf countries, as cases of Covid-19 infections continue to rise. According to figures available with the Non-Resident Keralites’ Affairs (Norka) department, requests for clearance from the state government for chartered flights over the past one week has dropped drastically to one-tenth of the number seen last month.
5,199 single day rise in Karnataka
Karnataka on Sunday reported the highest single day spike in coronavirus cases with 5,199 additions, taking the aggregate in the state to 96,141, while 82 died due to the virus, the health department said. There are 58,417 active cases including 632 in the ICUs whereas the 2,088 discharges on Sunday took the total discharges to 35,838, the department said in the bulletin.
The positive cases were led by Bengaluru urban district with 1,950 infections, followed by 579 in Ballari, 230 in Mysuru, 213 in Bengaluru Rural, 199 in Dakshina Kannada among other districts. Bengaluru urban continued to record highest number of deaths. The city has seen 891 deaths so far including 29 on Sunday. While Dakshina Kannada district reported 7 deaths, six each occurred in Belagavi, Kalaburagi and Dharwad and five each in Mysuru and Tumakuru.
Andhra approaching 100,000 mark
Coronavirus tally in Andhra Pradesh is approaching to the 100,000 mark with the addition of 7,627 new cases on Sunday. The death toll crossed the 1,000-mark, reaching 1,041 after 56 fresh casualties were reported in the last 24 hours. The latest government bulletin said 3,041 patients were discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, taking the overall discharges to 46,301. The number of active cases stood at 48,956.
According to statistics released by the government, 16,43,000 samples were tested in the state so far at the rate of 30,774 per million population. The infection positivity rate climbed further up to 5.86 per cent following the spurt in cases and the recovery rate fell to 48.08 per cent.
1,593 new cases in Telangana
The total cases in Telangana reached 54,059 as 1,593 more swab samples tested positive for coronavirus on Saturday. Eight more COVID-19 patients died. The new 1.593 cases includes 641 from Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), 171 from Rangareddy and 131 from Warangal Urban districts. Out of the total 54,059 cases, 12,264 are active cases, 41,332 have recovered, and 463 COVID-19 patients have died.
A total of 353,425 tests to detect coronavirus were performed till date. However, distribution of number RATs and RT-PCR tests is not mentioned.Telangana recorded 1,593 positive cases on Saturday, with eight deaths. This takes the total number of positive cases till date to 54,059 and 463 deaths. Samples tested account for 15,654. The number of recovered cases took a dip in comparison to recent numbers, and only 998 patients have recovered. However, a total of 41,332 people have recovered in total till date.
