While the state has been witnessing a rise in the death toll, the Tamil Nadu state government asserted that it has been working hard to bring down the mortality rate while increasing the recoveries. The state has been going through the peak of the spread with sharpest spikes in the number of cases and the state would likely close May month as the second Indian state with the most number of cases, after Maharashtra.

On Thursday, Tamil Nadu has reported 12 fatalities- the highest single-day rise in the number of deaths and the death toll currently stands at 145 of which about 40 deaths were recorded in the last five days. Of these 145 deaths, Chennai has accounted for 106 along with having two-thirds of the total affected cases in the state. 

While addressing the reporters, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Vijayabaskar said that the doctors, nurses, and the medical teams across the hospitals in the state have been working hard to reduce the increase in the number of fatalities while keeping up the recoveries. The medical teams have been working for six to seven straight hours with the protective gear and without taking a break. 

He further stated that the state has been enhancing the medical infrastructure, measures, and human resources at the hospitals to gear up the efforts to flatten the curve of COVID-19 affected cases and to bring down the fatalities. The state currently has a mortality rate of 0.7% and a recovery rate of more than 50%. According to the reports, the state has crossed 10,000 discharges by reporting 10,548 so far as of Thursday. Apart from reporting more positive cases, Tamil Nadu has also the second Indian state with the most number of discharges.

With the discharge count, the state has more discharges than the active COVID-19 cases. The Health department outlined that about 84% of total deaths caused in the state so far had co-morbid conditions and most of the deaths are above 60 years. By iterating the people to wear masks and maintain social distancing norms, Vijayabaskar has further added not to politicize the issue. 

On Thursday, the state has reported 827 fresh cases, 639 discharges, and 12 deaths and out of these 12, eleven deceased belong to Chennai while the rest one was from Thiruvannamalai and ten deceased had been identified with the co-morbid conditions like Asthma, Diabetes, and Hypertension. The reports stated that of these 12 deaths, six patients had died within 48 hours of admission.

As of Thursday evening, the state has reported 19,372 positive cases so far of which 8,676 are active - including isolation, 10,548 have been discharged, and 145 had succumbed to the virus. For the past few weeks, the influx from other regions has also been tested positive for the virus. As of Thursday, 936 people from Maharashtra, 27 from Gujarat, 26 from Karnataka, 19 from West Bengal, 17 from Delhi, and ten each from Kerala and Rajasthan had tested positive and all of them had returned to the state by air and rail.

Must read: COVID-19: TN has crossed 19,000 with the highest single-day rise in the death toll!