Tamil Nadu reports 771 new COVID-19 cases, highest single-day spike so far

Tamil Nadu recorded 771 positive cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday (May 6), of which 324 cases were from Chennai and 188 were from Ariyalur district.

According to health officials, the spike in the number of cases over the past three days was mostly a result of a cluster from the Koyambed vegetable market in Chennai.

“People from various parts of the state had gone to the market,” an official privy to the developments said.

“Extensive contact tracing and intensified testing have led to the spike in the number of cases,” he added.

According to the press release from the health department, the state tested 13,413 samples of 13,281 people on Wednesday. This is the highest number of samples tested so far in a single day. The number of people tested on Tuesday (May 5) was 11,702.

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Districts like Kancheepuram, Ariyalur, and Tiruvallur became new COVID-19 hotspots after the emergence of the Koyambed cluster, with the total number of confirmed cases rising to 87, 222, and 324 respectively.

The state also reported two deaths due to COVID-19 on Wednesday. A 69-year-old man with comorbidities, who was admitted to the Stanley Medical College Hospital on May 5, died on the same day.

Meanwhile, another 59-year-old man admitted to the Kilpauk Medical College Hospital on May 3 died without responding to treatment two days later, on May 5. With this, the state recorded a total of 35 deaths due to COVID-19.

The total number of cases in Tamil Nadu shot up to 4,829 with this spike in infections, while the total number in Chennai stood at 2,328.

Meanwhile, district collectors in the state have appealed to the people in their respective districts to come forward and get themselves tested if they had gone to the Koyambed market over the past few weeks.