Chennai, Oct 22 (PTI): Tamil Nadu on Friday added 1,152 new Covid-19 infections, pushing the caseload to 26,92,949, while 19 more people have succumbed to the virus, taking the death toll to 35,987, the health department said.

Recoveries outnumbered new infections with 1,392 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 26,43,431 leaving 13,531 active infections, a bulletin said.

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A total of 1,29,573 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 5,00,51,603 till date.

Chennai and Coimbatore accounted for a majority of new infections with 147 and 140 cases, respectively, while the remaining was scattered across other districts. Ten districts reported new cases below double digits, while Ariyalur added the least with one case being reported in the last 24 hours. Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian said during the sixth edition of the COVID mega vaccination camp scheduled on Saturday the department would focus on those who need to receive the second vaccination dose.

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"Currently we have 66 lakh vaccines as inventory. We appeal to those eligible to take the second dose and make use of the mega vaccination drive tomorrow which will be conducted through 50,000 vaccination camps", he said.

According to him, there were 57 lakh people in the state who were waiting to receive the second dose of Covid vaccine.

Noting that the Covid-19 infections in the world over was witnessing an increase, he said the "United States recorded 75,000 new cases, while in the United Kingdom it was 45,000. People should not lower their guard thinking that the prevalence of the virus has come down in Tamil Nadu and they do not need any vaccination".

"We appeal to everyone to adhere to Covid-19 behaviour and take the jabs", he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)