Chennai: Tamil Nadu on Sunday reported a record single day spike of nearly 4,000 new coronavirus cases, pushing the overall tally beyond 82,000 while 54 fatalities were reported. The toll in the state went up to 1,079, while the total number of positive cases climbed to 82,275, the government said in a medical bulletin.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami, while assuring his government was doing its every bit to contain the pandemic, took a dig at DMK chief M K Stalin's statement that the ruling dispensation was not considering his suggestions.
The Opposition leader was only issuing political statements, he said. According to the government, as many as 45,537 people including 1,443 on Sunday have been discharged from various hospitals, leaving 35,656 active cases including those in isolation.
The capital city Chennai continued to report a high number of cases--as many as 1,992 infections of the 3,940 cases reported on Sunday.
The metropolis also shared the unenviable record of having the maximum fatalities--809, of the total 1,079 deaths in the state so far.
According to the bulletin, eight of the 54 deceased were patients without 'comorbidities' and the dead include an 18-month old boy baby from Villupuram who died on June 27 due to spastic cerebral palsy, 'global developmental delay' and 'aspiration pneumonia'.
Patients with comorbidities who succumbed to the virus include a 91-year old man suffering from diabetes mellitus.
Among the districts, Chengalpet with 5,051 total cases and Tiruvallur with 3,524 of them remained on the top of the charts after Chennai.
With government enhancing testing of samples, 32,948 specimens were tested on Sunday, taking the total to 11.10 lakh till date.
Meanwhile, Palaniswami and Stalin sparred over the virus situation in the state, with the latter alleging that the ruling dispensation was not considering the suggestions given by him and that he was not doing politics over the matter.
"I have been giving hundreds of suggestions so far.
Though the AIADMK is in power, the DMK has a duty to protect the people," he said in a video message.
Many doctors had interacted with him and he had conveyed their suggestions to the government, the DMK chief said. "But chief minister Palaniswami neither listened to these nor implemented them," he said, adding the CM was 'arrogant' on this matter.