Chennai: As whopping number of 17 coronavirus cases reported in Tamilnadu today alone, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami jumped into action and chaired a high level meeting with top officials at the Secretariat.
Talking to mediapersons after the meeting, Palaniswami said the number of corona cases in the State went up to 67, with ten cases reported from Erode, five from Chennai and one each from Madurai and Karur districts.
Yesterday, eight new cases–all from Erode–were reported and they had contracted it from two Thai Nationals, who were under isolation at IRT, Perundurai. They were identified through contact tracing.
He said there was only one death in the State due to coronavirus and five people, who had earlier tested positive, were discharged after treatment, while reports of 121 samples were awaited.
More than 3,400 people were relieved after a 28 day quarantine period and only those having symptoms were subjected to tests for coronavirus infection. He also said that it is not true that doctors and nurses do not have masks.
Stating that 17,089 beds in isolation wards and more than 3,000 ventilators were readied, he said orders were placed for procuring 1.5 crore face masks, 25 lakh N-95 masks and 30,000 testing kits.
Reiterating that self-quarantine was the only option to prevent spread of Covid-19 as no cure was found so far, Palaniswami once again appealed to the people to remain indoors in view of the 21-day lockdown which was in force from 24 March.
He said a committee headed by the Chief Secretary was taking all steps to prevent corona spread and 11 committees have intensified preventive measures in the State.
Palaniswami also said there was no need to convene an all party meeting on the corona situation as demanded by Opposition DMK president M K Stalin. The DMK today committed Rs 1 crore for coronavirus relief.
The Chief Minister further said funds will be transferred to the respective State governments were people from Tamilnadu are stranded. The local bodies have been issuing emergency passes for people to travel during the lockdown.Only funerals, weddings scheduled well in advance, or emergency medical conditions will be considered special cases for getting emergency passes, he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam held a review meeting at the Theni District Collector’s office about the measures taken to prevent the spreading of coronavirus. Theni Lok Sabha MP O P Raveendranath Kumar and top officials were present.