Tamil Nadu sees big spike in active COVID cases, positivity rate in April

Tamil Nadu’s COVID positivity rate increased from 3% on April 1 to 13% on April 30. The number of cases and deaths also spiked during the period.

Positivity rate is the percentage of cases that test positive against the total number of cases tested in a given period.

From 17,043 on April 1, the total number of active COVID cases in Tamil Nadu increased to 1.15 lakh by the end of the month.

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The number of people who died due to COVID in the state on April 1 was 19; on April 30, it increased to 113. A total of 1,308 persons died in the 30 days in Tamil Nadu due to the pandemic. While this compares well with the current situation in Delhi or Maharashtra, the number of deaths in the state last month did increase multifold from the 27 recorded in April 2020. The numbers indicate how serious the spread of the virus is in the state, compared to last year.

Record high in Tirunelveli 

While Tamil Nadu as a whole has a positivity rate of 13%, Tirunelveli district has the maximum positivity rate of 25%, followed by Chennai with 21%.  

“We are aware of the increase in positivity rate in the month of April,” said a senior Health Department official. “The next 10 days are crucial as the number of cases is expected to peak. We must not lower our guard – we need to wear masks or double masks and avoid going to any place where there is a crowd.”

Chennai had 6,207 active cases on April 1, which increased to 31,119 by the end of the month. In Tirunelveli, it rose from 165 to 4,405 during the same period.

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Shortage of beds

“The increase in the number of active cases shows how the beds in hospitals are filling up fast and there is a shortage of beds in cities like Chennai,” said the official.

Across the country, 48,768 persons died of COVID in April, marking the cruellest month for the country under the present pandemic.

April 2021 saw a total of 69.36 lakh new cases – again the worst month for India since the pandemic broke out  last March.