New Covid cases in TN below 200, three die

Chennai: The number of new Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu dropped below the 200-mark on Sunday. A total of 196 tested positive for the virus. Also, 554 recovered from the disease. The brisk recovery rate has helped bring down the number of active cases to 2,770. It was above 1.21 lakh on the same day last month.

Back then, the state's Test Positivity Rate (TPR) was as high as 6%. But it has come down by merely 0.4%. Chennai, which reported the highest number of fresh cases on Sunday (62), has a slightly higher TPR of 0.8%. Coimbatore and Chengalpattu with a similar TPR had 25 and 20 new cases respectively.

While Ariyalur, Karur, Ramanathapuram, Ranipet, Tenkasi, Theni, and Thirupathur had no new cases, all other TN districts reported infections in single digits. Also, three people died in the last 24 hours. Among them, two had comorbidities.

Mayiladuthurai district has the lowest vaccination coverage in Tamil Nadu. While the overall first and second dose rate of the state was around 92% and 73%, only 80% in Mayiladuthurai got their first dose. Less than 56% are fully vaccinated in this coastal district.

Health minister Ma Subramanian, who inaugurated new healthcare facilities in this district on Sunday, said that vaccine hesitancy was still high among the fishermen community, who are under the misconception that their immune level to the virus is high. "So, we have met and requested all local body representatives to collect the list of their unvaccinated people in their respective wards from the collector and bring them to the next mega vaccination camp," he said.