Chennai, Jun 29 (IANS): As many as 3,949 more persons tested positive for coronavirus while 62 such patients died in Tamil Nadu in the last 24-hour cycle, the Health Department said on Monday.

The two figures are new highs for the state in a single day. The total active cases in Tamil Nadu now are 37,331.

In a statement issued here, the department said the total case tally had climbed up to 86,224 and the death toll till date to 1,141.

A total of 30,039 more samples were tested, taking the state's total to about 11.40 lakh.

The number of Covid-19 patients who got cured went up to 47,749 as 2,212 more persons were discharged from various hospitals on Monday.

The number of corona-infected children in the state in the age group 0-12 went up to 4,225.

State capital Chennai continued to lead Covid-19 infection table at 2,167 more positive cases, and a total tally of 55,969. The active cases in the city now are 21,681.

Amid the daily coronavirus infection rate staying over 3,000 in the southern state, an expert medical committee said it had not recommended extension of the lockdown after June 30 after holding a review meeting with Chief Minister K. Palaniswami.

Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director, National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), said the committee didn't recommend lockdown extension as it was not the only way to control the virus spread.

The panel took into account the socio-economic issues connected with the lockdown while making its recommendation, Kaur said. The panel instead suggested tightening of restrictions in areas with high infection rate.

It was now for the state government to take a call on lockdown extension, she said.

Attributing the spike in coronavirus cases to increased testing, she said over 80 per cent of the new cases were of mild infections. The panel has recommended increase in number of tests in Madurai, Trichy, Vellore, and Tiruvannamaai.