There is a slight increase in COVID-19 cases in the last couple of days, said doctors at Tirunelveli Medical College and Hospital here on Wednesday.
Speaking to reporters, the doctors said that till the second week of November, the number of patients which had fallen to a single digit, suddenly increased to 11 on November 21, 18 the next day and touched 21 on November 25. With the onset of rainy season, there should have been a slight spurt.
One of the reasons could be that though people had been advised to stay indoors and venture out of home only if warranted, a majority of the people are not following the guidelines. People were not wearing face masks and ignoring physical distancing norms. Shopkeepers were also not insisting on their customers to wear face masks any more and the practice of thermal scanning to check body temperature had been discontinued in many places.
Interestingly, recent COVID-19 cases were reported only in Tirunelveli Corporation limits and not in Ambasamudram, Manur, Palayamkottai, Pappakudi, Radhapuram, Cheranmahadevi and Kalakkad blocks, the doctors said.
Collector V. Vishnu, who assumed office recently, distributed face masks to the public at an awareness programme held at Vannarpet. The public were told to keep themselves clean and adhere to the guidelines.
District Revenue Officer Perumal, Dean Ravichandran, Deputy Director of Health Varadarajan and City Health Officer Suganya participated.
Palayamkottai Central Prison authorities also took out a motorcycle rally to create awareness of safe practices in the COVID-19 times.
