Chennai: With the numbers of coronavirus affected persons increasing each passing day in Tamilnadu, their population is expected to go up further in the days to come, thanks to the arrival of 50,000 testing kits.
“The numbers were less so far due to non-availability of rapid testing mechanism. Now the test kits have arrived, the government will be testing the family members and contacts of those who had already tested positive for Covid-19. The numbers are expected to go up further,” sources say, adding that this is actually good.
“This will go a long way in containing the spread of coronavirus in the Tamilnadu by identifying the affected persons in short span of time,” the sources state.
The government has ordered four lakh rapid testing kits from China and the first batch of 50,000 kits has reached Tamilnadu, sources said. Besides the family members and contacts of affected persons, people living in the areas will also be subjected to testing, sources added.
Stating that ICMR recommended equipments were being used for testing corona symptomatic patients, State Health Secretary Beela Rajesh appealed to the people to realise the enormity of the Covid pandemic and cooperate with the government by staying indoors and maintaining social distancing.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami today chaired a meeting via video conferencing from the Secretariat with 19 medical teams deployed to control the spread of coronavirus.
Sources said that the decision about the extension of lockdown in the State will be taken based on the outcome of this meeting.
Chief Secretary K Shanmugam and senior officials were also present during the meeting. The Tamilnadu Cabinet has been convened to meet tomorrow evening at 5 pm where some crucial decisions are expected to be taken. Meanwhile, the Tamilnadu police continue to take violators to task by fining and filing cases.
According to police, 1,25,708 violations have been recorded, FIRs have been filed and 1,35,734 persons have been arrested. A total number of 1,06,539 vehicles have been seized so far. A fine amount of Rs 45,13,544 has been collected.
Chennai on top
Tamilnadu is now second on India’s Covid-19 chart behind the worst-hit Maharashtra, where it crossed the 1,000 mark.
In the State, Chennai, with seven new cases, topped the list with 163 cases, followed by Coimbatore (60), Erode, which reported 26 new cases at 58, and Tirunelveli (56), which has 16 new cases.
Beela Rajesh said till date 7,267 samples were tested and 834 tested positive. While 5,824 tested negative, the results of 485 were awaited.
She said 59,918 people were under home quarantine, 211 in government quarantine centres and 27, including six on Thursday, were discharged after treatment. A total of 32,896 people have completed 28 days of quarantine. In all 7,267 samples were tested of which 834 tested positive.