TN mulls stringent measures as Covid surges

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin met state Health Minister Ma Subramanian, Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan and state public health officials, including T.S. Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Tamil Nadu government, on Tuesday and planned strict curbs.

The fresh Covid-19 cases in Tamil Nadu have risen from 1,728 cases on Monday to 2,731 cases on Tuesday while the test positivity rate rose from 0.7 per cent on December 30 to 2.6 per cent on Tuesday showing a quantum jump in infected cases.

In Chennai alone fresh Covid cases increased to 1,489 from 876 cases on Monday. This, according to state health officials, accounts for 55 per cent of the total infected cases of Tamil Nadu.

Greater Chennai Corporation has already increased the number of testing from 22,000 on Monday to 30,000 from Tuesday onwards taking into consideration the hike in fresh cases. Chennai has contributed to more than 50 per cent of the fresh cases.

Perambur MLA, M. Prabhakaran and Aranthangi MLA, S.T. Ramachandran tested positive for Covid-19 and are under treatment.

Meanwhile, Stalin in a statement on Tuesday appealed to the people of Tamil Nadu to be vigilant and inoculate themselves at the earliest. He also urged the people to adhere to Covid-19 protocols, including wearing masks, social distancing, sanitising and washing of hands regularly to prevent the spread of the infection.

State Public Health department officials told IANS that more restrictions will be in place from Wednesday such as the number of people attending marriages, funerals and other public gatherings.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister told IANS, "The state Health department will issue certain guidelines regarding the measures to be taken to contain the infection which has shown a rise in Covid cases. Already the third wave is on and people must strictly follow the directives given by the Health department to prevent the infection from spreading in large numbers. There is no reason to worry but one has to be cautious and take necessary precautions following the Covid-19 protocols."

--IANS aal/khz/skp/

( 372 Words)

2022-01-05-12:54:03 (IANS)