97-year-old woman dies of COVID-19 in Puducherry: 24 new cases reported

Puducherry, July 3 (): A 97-year-old woman died of COVID-19, while 24 new cases were reported, taking the toll to 13 and the infection tally to 824 in the Union Territory on Friday, the government said.

The woman died at the Indira Gandhi Government Medical college (IGGMC) hospital on Thursday, a government bulletin said, giving details of coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, ended at 10 AM.

A total of 633 samples were tested, of which 24 turned out to be positive, taking the total number of cases to 824.

The active cases stood at 427, while 384 patients have been discharged so far, the bulletin said.

The 24 patients were admitted to hospitals in Puducherry and Karaikal and among them three were aged less than 18 years, while the others were in the 18-60 age group, it said.

Health Minister Malladi Krishna Rao told reporters through video conferencing that 17,645 of the total of 18,791 samples tested had turned out to be negative. The results of the other samples were awaited, he said. Rao feared that with the easing of curbs from Friday there was the possibility of Puducherry witnessing more number of positive cases as movement of people would gather momentum. He warned private hospitals against going back on their commitment to admit COVID-19 patients and said if they did so, the government would write to the Centre to take action against them.

The Minister said government run hospitals were adequately equipped to meet any contingency for the next six months and were ready to treat all those who approached the institutions for testing and follow up care. COR APR RAVINDRANATH APR RAVINDRANATH