Chennai: Tamilnadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said Chief Minister M K Stalin is determined to control the spread of Covid-19 without causing any adverse impact on the economy. So there is no need for a major lockdown.
He expressed hope that with the cooperation of residents, the number of cases can be controlled. He also said the State government has stopped sending samples for Omicron confirmation to the National Institute of Virology (NIV), as the infection was mild and patients were getting discharged even before the report was received.
He said samples from cluster areas only will be sent for testing to NIV, so that new variants, if any, could be identified. Meanwhile, Director of Public Health & Preventive Medicine (TNDPH) has issued fresh guidelines for Covid-19 testing.
As per the new guidelines, people with Influenza-Like Illness (ILU) symptoms such as fever, cough/cold, Myalgia, breathlessness, etc., have been advised to get tested with RT-PCR for SARS-CoV-2.