Chennai, Jul 9 (IANS): Tamil Nadu saw a sudden spike in COVID-19 cases with 4,231 persons testing positive for the virus in the last 24 hours, according to the State Health Department on Thursday.

For the past couple of days, the new infection numbers were below 4,000 mark.

In a statement issued here, the Department said the state recorded new coronavirus infections of 4,231 persons, taking the total tally to 1,26,581.

The total number of COVID-19 patients who died over the past 24 hours was 65, taking the toll to 1,765.

The good news was, 3,994 COVID-19 patients were cured and discharged from various hospitals in the state. The total number of Covid cured persons in the state rose up to 78,161.

The number of active COVID-19 cases in the state after taking into account the cured and dead stands at 46,652.

The number of infected children in the state in the age group 0-12 went up to 6,277.

Chennai continued to head the COVID-19 infection table with 1,216 persons testing positive for the virus and the total tally stands at 73,728. The active cases in the city stands at 20,271 while the total number of COVID-19 patients discharged in the state capital stood at 2,700.