Chennai: Amid rising number of positive cases, which has touched 485, with 74 fresh cases reported on Saturday, two people die of coronavirus taking the number of casulaties in Tamilnadu to three.
The deaths were reported at Villuppuram and Theni districts of the State. Talking to reporters, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said a 51-year-old man, who tested positive after his return from the Nizamuddin Markaz religious congregation in Delhi, died at the Villuppuram Government Hospital.
The other death was from Theni where a 53-year-old, wife of a corona positive patient, who too attended the Nizamuddin congregation, succumbed, despite the best of treatment.
Both the deaths were caused due to breathing problems.So far two deaths were reported in the State linked to the
Nizamuddin congregation.
It may be recalled that the first death due to the corona pandemic was reported at the Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on March 26 when a 54-year-old man with no travel history tested positive, and failed to respond to of treatment.
Meanwhile, Beela Rajesh said 74 fresh positive cases were reported in the State, taking the tally to 485. With a staggering 360 cases reported in the State in the last four days alone, (110 on 1 April, 74 on 2 April, 102 yesterday and 74 today), Tamilnadu is second on India’s COVID-19 chart behind Maharashtra, where it crossed the 500 mark.
Of the 74 new cases, 73 had attended the Tablighi Jamaat meet, while the other patient was from Chennai who was in contact with a person who returned from abroad. With this the number of corona cases linked to Delhi meet has crossed 400 in the State.
She said the blood samples and throat swabs of about 1,200 people who had returned from Delhi were sent for tests. Of the total 4,248 samples tested, 3,356 were negative, 485 tested positive and the reports of 407 were awaited.
Terming the Covid-19 spread as medical disaster, she said the State government has asked the National Institute of
Epidemilogy to study the pattern of infection and its spread.
She said many of those earlier tested asymptomatic and later became symptomatic. She said the government started screening the airport passengers right from 18 January.