Tamil Nadu reported 96 more positive cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on Thursday, taking the total number of cases in the State to 834.
Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said of the 96 persons, 84 were connected to the “single source event” (Delhi conference) — both participants and their contacts. Of the remaining 12 patients, three had inter-State travel history and nine, including a doctor, had a history of contact with COVID-19 patients.
“There have been no deaths in the last 24 hours in the State,” she told reporters. As on date, 27 patients were discharged after treatment. Among those hospitalised with COVID-19, six were ill with symptoms but did not require critical care. One patient, who was admitted to a private hospital, was put on a ventilator. The number of persons who had attended the single source event was increasing in a phased manner. Many reported after the government made an appeal. We first had 1,000 persons, and then the number went up to 1,103 and then to 1,131. As on date, there are 1,480 persons who had attended the event. A total of 763 persons — 554 participants and 188 of their contacts and seven foreigners and 14 of their contacts — have tested positive,” she said. The remaining 71 had a history of travel or contact history, she added.
Erode reported the highest number of cases on Thursday. Twenty six patients — 14 women and 12 men — were from the district, taking the to 58. In Tirunelveli, 16 persons tested positive — 14 women and two men. Eight persons (three women and five men from Namakkal), eight persons (four women and four men from Kanniyakumari), seven persons (one woman and six men from Chennai) reported positive. Five persons each from Tirupattur, Thoothukodi and Vellore, four persons each from Chengalpattu and Tiruppur, and one person each from Kallakurichi, Madurai, Nagapattinam, Salem, Sivaganga, Tenkasi, Theni and Tiruvarur have tested positive.
With 163 cases, Chennai continued to top the list of patients followed by Coimbatore with 60 patients. The number of samples tested till date was 7,267 and 485 of them were under process. In fact, the number of samples has increased by 1,172 since Wednesday, the highest single-day increase till now. A total of 2,042 persons were admitted to isolation wards in hospitals, while the number of beds in isolation facilities was 29,074.
Results in 30 minutes
Dr. Rajesh said the rapid test kits would provide results in 30 minutes. “These tests will be done on the field. This is to understand the prevalence of COVID-19 in the community. We will be able to assess how many people have been exposed to infection. The kits are from China, and were approved by an expert screening committee and the Indian Council of Medical Research. This is an antibody test specific to COVID-19. If found positive for antibodies, we may still have to confirm the result by RT-PCR test,” she said.
The Health Secretary said the containment strategy was going on in 34 districts. So far, 16,61,487 households were covered, and a total of 58,77348 persons were screened. A total of 32,807 field staff were involved in the containment activities.
She added that they continued to test persons hospitalised for severe acute respiratory infection, while the National Institute of Epidemiology had undertaken a prevalence study. She urged the public to cooperate with the government.
“It is important to follow guidelines on hand washing and physical distancing. If anybody has symptoms, approach the hospital for help,” she said.
