Chennai: The Positive cases for COVID-19 continued to soar in Tamil Nadu as 98 more people tested positive on Monday, taking the total number of positive cases to 1,173 as the State government announced the extension of lockdown till April 30 with existing restrictions.
After 106 people tested positive on Sunday, 98 more people tested positive on Monday. However, no death was reported during the last 24 hours. Of the 98 cases, 91 people were from a single source, four of their contacts and three were doctors and nurses.
The death toll for the State stands at 11, and the lesser number of reported deaths is a success story of the State, Health Secretary Beela Rajesh told reporters in her daily briefing. Maintaining that Tamil Nadu was still in stage 2, she said this was evident as none of the 62 SARI (Severe Acute Respiratory Infection) cases turned positive in the test.
She said a total of 12,746 people were tested for the virus, of which 1,173 turned positive. Rajesh said a total of 33,1250 people were in-home quarantine and 136 in government quarantine. A total of 63,380 people had completed 28 days quarantine period, and 58 positive cases have been discharged after treatment.
The State has enough stocks of three-layer masks, N95 masks, Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) and ventilators and are continuously placing orders as per requirements. Asserting that the State would get Rapid Testing Kits in a couple of days, she said these kits would be used to only screen the suspected cases.
Without waiting for the arrival of these kits, the government was using the PCR testing kits, which was confirmatory.
“Presently we are focusing on early detection, aggressive containment, self-isolation and social distancing”, she said.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced the extension of lockdown for a further period of 15 days till April 30 to contain the spread of COVID-19 and prevent the State from entering into the dangerous Stage-3.
All the poor, construction workers and all those in unorganised sectors would be given Rs 1,000 and free ration items, including rice and select grocery items. The free ration items would be made available to migrant workers also, the government said.
The lockdown would continue with the existing restrictions and guidelines, the Chief Minister said. The lockdown announcement comes a day before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s scheduled address to the nation on Tuesday. The State Cabinet which met two days ago had decided to await Prime Minister’s announcement concerning the lockdown.
As more and more voluntary organisations came forward to distribute food and essentials in their respective areas, the government has ordered that all the reliefs should be routed through the government. This created confusion as the voluntary organisations have been asked to route the essentials through revenue officials after obtaining permission from the district collectors. The DMK and its ally, the DMDK moved the Madras High Court, challenging the order. The writ petition is likely to come up for hearing on Tuesday.