Puducherry adds 109 fresh COVID-19 cases, overall tally rises to 1,21,989

Puducherry logged 109 new coronavirus cases during the last 24 hours taking the overall tally to 1,21,989, a senior official of the Department of Health said on Thursday.

Two more people- one each from Puducherry and Mahe- succumbed to the infection during the last 24 hours pushing the toll to 1,803, Director of Health G Sriramulu said. Among the deceased was a 61-year old woman belonging to Puducherry while the other victim, an 86-year old male, hailed from the Mahe region, he added.

The Department of Health has tested so far 15.63 lakh samples and found 13.36 lakh out of them to be negative. The Health Department Director said the test positivity rate was 1.96 per cent while the fatality and recovery rates were 1.48 per cent and 97.77 per cent respectively.

With regard to the new cases in the last 24 hours ending 10 AM on Thursday, Sriramulu said the Puducherry region accounted for 77 of the 109 while Mahe, an enclave in Kerala added 21, followed by Karaikal (10) and Yanam (one). The number of active cases stood at 914 with 200 patients in hospitals and the remaining 714 in-home isolation, he said.

The Director of Health said so far 38,001 healthcare workers and 22,989 frontline workers have been inoculated. The Department has vaccinated 5.37 lakh people coming under the category of either senior citizens or those above 45 years with comorbidities. In all, 7.50 lakh people have been vaccinated and they included those who have received the second dose, he said.