The Union Territory of Puducherry has logged 120 new cases of coronavirus with the further testing of 5,017 samples during the last 24 hours ending at 10 am on Saturday, taking the overall tally to 1,24,049, Health Department director G Sriramulu said.
The Union Territory has recorded 70 fresh cases while Karaikal reported 17, Yanam reported 8 and Mahe reported 25. With one more person from Mahe succumbing to the infection, the death toll has risen to 1,816, he said.
As of now, 937 active cases are there with 172 people are being treated in hospitals while the rest are in home isolation, the official said. The department has so far tested 16.63 lakh samples and of them, 14.12 lakh samples were found to be negative.
He said 76 patients have recovered and were discharged during the last 24 hours, pushing the overall recoveries to 1,21,296. Sriramulu said the test positivity rate was 2.39 per cent while fatality and recovery rates were 1.46 per cent and 97.78 per cent respectively.
The Health Department has vaccinated 38,152 health care workers and 23,005 frontline workers till date. So far, they have inoculated 5.75 lakh persons belonging to the category of either senior citizens or those above 45 years with comorbidities.
In all, the department has vaccinated 8.28 lakh persons, including those who received the second dose, against the pandemic. According to a release, the department has launched a 48-hour long non-stop vaccination from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Sunday against the pandemic.
The purpose of the drive is to cover all eligible persons under the vaccination programme to ensure that Puducherry emerged as a fully vaccinated Union Territory.