Chennai, May 9 (PTI) Tamil Nadu's coronavirus spike
continued unabated with 28,897 fresh cases being recorded in
a single day, pushing the total caseload to 13.80 lakh while
236 deaths in the last 24 hours took the toll to 15,648.
The state government said the Sterlite Copper plant in
Tuticorin district would commence production of oxygen from
May 11 onwards.
According to a medical bulletin on Sunday, 23,515 people
were discharged today, taking the total recoveries to
12,20,064 and leaving 1,44,547 active infections.
The state capital accounted for 7,130 new infections,
totaling 3,90,589 till date.
The metropolis also leads in the number of fatalities
with 5,209 deaths.
The number of samples tested today was 1,53,790, pushing
the cumulative number of specimens examined so far to 2.40
crore.
Besides Chennai, Chengalpet added 2,279 cases,
Coimbatore 2,509 Thiruvallur 1,768, Madurai 1,068,
Kancheepuram 1,089 while the remaining 31 districts clocked
new infections in triple digits.
Cuddalore reported 478, Dharmapuri 353, Dindigul 351,
Erode 691, Kallakurichi 280, Kanyakumari 515, Karur 291,
Krishnagiri 485, Nagapattinam 211, Namakkal 216, and
Ramanathapuram 136 followed by others.
Among the 236 deceased, 47 of them were without
comorbidities, which include a 18 year old boy from
Tuticorin, who succumbed to the virus due to 'COVID-19
pneumonia'.
As many as 28 people who tested positive today were
returnees from various destinations.
Industries Minister Thangam Thennarasu said the
Vedanta-owned Sterlite Copper plant would produce 35 metric
tonnes of oxygen at its facility in Tuticorin fromMay 11 and
double its production later.
"We have asked them to increase production to 70 metric
tonnes. They (the company) told us that they will be able to
give information on May 12..," he told reporters here.
On April 26, an all-party meeting convened by the
previous AIADMK government resolved to allow theplant to
produce oxygen for a four-month period, paving the way for
partial reopening of the copper smelter plant closed in 2018
over pollution concerns. PTI VIJ
ROH ROH