PUDUCHERRY/MADURAI: Two more Covid-19 deaths were reported from Tamil Nadu and Karaikal on Tuesday.
While in Karaikal, a woman aged 35 died of Covid-19 taking the toll to 1,977 in the Union territory of Puducherry, a 54-year-old man who had tested Covid-positive and was under treatment for lung cancer at the Tuticorin Government Medical College Hospital died without responding to treatment.
The Karaikal woman suffered from pituitary macroadenoma, Cushing's disease, central hypothyroidism and diabetes.
In Tuticorin, the male patient was admitted to the emergency ward of the Tuticorin Government Medical College Hospital on March 21 with complaint of breathlessness and was diagnosed with left lung cancer with metastasis.
The patient tested positive for Covid-19 on March 31. He also developed abdominal pain. On Tuesday, he suffered a cardiopulmonary arrest and was declared dead.
Tamil Nadu health minister Ma Subramanian told reporters in Dindigul that all recent Covid-19 deaths reported in the state, including the one in Tuticorin, have been of patients with co-morbid conditions.
The woman from Tsunami quarters, Karaikal, was admitted to the Karaikal primary health care with symptoms of Covid-19 on Saturday and she died on Sunday. Healthcare authorities said she died of acute massive pulmonary thromboembolism, severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), pneumococcal sepsis and Covid pneumonia.
The UT reported 31 fresh cases in the 24 hours ending 10am on Tuesday. Puducherry reported fresh cases of 16 followed by Karaikal (13) and Yanam (2). Health experts tested 201 samples in the past 24 hours. The positivity rate was at 15.4%. Public health experts have urged the government to increase the number of tests.
In the Tuticorin patient's case, the cause of death was recorded as carcinoma of the left lung with secondary sepsis, acute kidney injury and incidental Covid-19 positivity. The patient had been vaccinated for Covid-19.
"There is no need for unnecessary panic. Most Covid-19 patients have been able to recover well in 5-6 days and have not required ICU care or oxygen. However, as a precaution, we started insisting on masks at all hospitals in the state from April 1," TN health minister M Subramanian said. He noted that in the case of 2% random testing of international passengers at airports, 10-15 new cases a day are being recorded of people arriving from countries such as Dubai and Singapore while hardly any case was reported 20 days ago.
Meanwhile, the 10 south Tamil Nadu districts have been witnessing a steady increase in new Covid-19 cases.