No need to panic, health infrastructure robust: Tamil Nadu govt on 'spurt' in Covid cases

Chennai: As the number of people infected with Covid-19 virus more than doubled when compared to last week, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday appealed to people “not to panic” as the state’s surveillance mechanism was “robust” that can detect any unusual increase in the number of such cases.

The number of Covid-19 cases in the state stood at 66 on May 19, against 32 for the week ending May 12, according to data released by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. A total of 32 patients were also discharged during the period.

The development led to concerns with countries like Singapore already reporting a spurt in the number of people infected with the virus. Tamil Nadu reported about 38,086 deaths during the first and second waves of the Covid-19 between 2020 and 2022.

T S Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health (DPH), said Covid-19 has joined the lakhs of other viruses and bacteria in the world that cause infections. “It will maintain its equilibrium status. We should know who is affected and how many people are hospitalised. We should also compare the figures with the total population, while looking at the virulent nature of the virus,” he said.

Selvavinayagam said there was “no need for panic” as neither the World Health Organisation (WHO) nor the Union Health Ministry have issued advisories to states on the spurt in cases.

“The number of Covid and other cases are being monitored via IHIP portal. The state government is also monitoring influenza-like illness (ILI) and severe acute respiratory infections (SARI) cases,” he said.

“There is no need to panic. As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, our medical infrastructure is prepared to handle any kind of situation. But we are nowhere near any such situations. If there is a need for people to follow some rules, we will notify them. Our surveillance mechanism is very robust and people are advised to stay calm,” he added.