Chennai, With two deaths on Saturday, the Covid-19 toll in Tamil Nadu has risen to 3. Also with 74 new coronavirus cases, the total number of infected people has increased to 485, according to an official here.

"A male, 51, died at the Villupuram hospital. He had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in Delhi last month," a health department official told IANS. In Theni district, a 53-year-old female, wife of Covid-19 patient, died in the hospital.

Speaking to reporters, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said the Madurai man had attended the religious event organised by the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi last month, and the woman was the wife of a Jamaat attendee, who was undergoing treatment.

As on Saturday, Tamil Nadu reported 485 Covid-19 positive cases and a large number of them had returned after attending the Tablighi Jamaat conference. Of the 74 new cases reported on Saturday, 73 had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference, she said.

According to Rajesh, around 1,200 people had returned to Tamil Nadu after attending the Tablighi Jamaat. Throat swabs and blood samples of them have been collected for tests.

Terming the Covid-19 spread as medical disaster, Rajesh said the government had asked the National Institute of Epidemilogy to study the pattern of infection and its spread.

She said many of who had tested a asymptomatic and turn into symptomatic later.

During the day, the TN government announced a list of private hospitals that could admit and treat Covid-19 patients. The personnel of private hospitals had been trained to handle Covid-19, Rajesh said and added, daily video conferencing was being done with them too..