On a day that was marred by news of violence during the burial of a doctor who had died of COVID-19, the State government announced that 43 persons had tested positive for the disease.
Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said that with two more deaths at a private hospital in Chennai (the death of the doctor was included only in Monday’s count), the State had reported a total of 17 deaths thus far. Forty-six patients, including 22 from the Coimbatore ESI Medical College Hospital, were discharged from hospitals across the State, taking the total number of patients discharged after treatment to 457.
“Presently, we have a total of 1,043 active cases (patients in hospital) in the State. Of these, six patients are sick but not on ventilator support. All other patients are stable,” he told reporters. There have been 1,302 cases linked to a “single source event” so far, the Minister said. As of Sunday, a total of 618, who had travelled to Delhi for the Nizamuddin conference, and 661 of their contacts, had tested positive. The remaining 198 patients had contact and travel histories.
New cases
The Minister said a majority of the fresh cases were family members of COVID-19-positive persons. They included a healthcare worker attached to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The Minister said all the contacts of the worker had been traced and were in isolation.
Chennai accounted for 18 of the 43 new cases, taking its tally to 303. Pudukottai reported its first case. This takes the total number of affected districts to 35.
The Minister said a man who had attended the Delhi conference had tested negative for COVID-19 in Pudukottai, but his son had tested positive.
Four persons each in Tiruchi and Tenkasi, three in Villupuram, two each in Dindigul, Tiruvallur and Ariyalur and one each in Tiruppur, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thoothukudi, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram and Perambalur had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Till date, we have lifted 46,984 samples and have tested 41,710 using the RT-PCR equipment,” he said.
Two more testing facilities had been approved - ESI Hospital Coimbatore and Pasteur Institute of India, Coonoor. With this, the State had 33 testing facilities — 23 in the government sector and 10 in the private sector, the Minister said. Both the Public Health Laboratory and King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy, had the capacity to test up to 1,000 samples, he said. Testing using the rapid test kits was under way simultaneously.
Testing, the Minister said, was being carried out in a focussed manner in containment areas, covering primary and secondary contacts of patients. “Of the 6,109 samples that were tested on Monday (the highest so far), 43 have returned positive,” he said.
“There is no community transmission of COVID-19 in T.N.,” he added.
The Minister said it was condemnable that residents had objected to the burial of the body of a neurosurgeon who had died of COVID-19. “The government is clear that such incidents should not recur,” he said.
“There is no way that the virus will spread if a person is buried or cremated. Do not spread rumours, and do not engage in such shameful acts,” he said. He added that a team comprising police officers, revenue officials, health inspectors and Chennai Corporation officials had been formed to tackle law and order issues.
Reacting to the criticism levelled against the government by DMK president M.K. Stalin, the Minister said COVID-19 was a disaster, and this was not the time for politics. “The Opposition leader should avoid such cheap politics at this time,” he said.
