74 new coronavirus cases take Nizamuddin cluster tally in Tamil Nadu to 264

Seventy-four of the 75 patients who tested positive in Tamil Nadu on Thursday are attendees of the Tablighi Jamaat conference in the national capital, taking the total number of people infected with COVID-19 from the Nizamuddin cluster in the state to 264.

The 75th patient is a contact of Patient 30, a 25-year-old girl who works at the Lifestyle store inside the Phoenix shopping mall in Velachery here. The woman had contracted the virus from a man from Kerala who later tested positive in Sri Lanka.

Three people from the store have so far tested positive for coronavirus and the Greater Chennai Corporation asked people who visited the mall between March 10 and March 17 to be cautious and seek health care if they exhibit any symptom. Patient 30 has the maximum contacts so far and several people who came in contact with her have been quarantined at their homes.

Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh said blood samples of all 1,103 attendees of the conference who were either tracked or voluntarily reported to hospitals have been collected. Out of these, 264 persons have so far tested positive for COVID-19 while the results of several people are pending and are expected to come out on Friday.

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“The total number of positive cases in Tamil Nadu is 309 as on Thursday. Out of 309, 264 are those who attended the conference. Seven people have been discharged from hospitals,” the Health Secretary said. She also confirmed that one doctor from Tamil Nadu, a 29-year-old woman, tested positive on March 29, responding to a question on 50 medical professionals getting infected with the virus across the country.

With 300 people still believed to be in Delhi, the Tamil Nadu government has managed to identify more than 95 per cent of the participants as it focused its entire energy on the Nizamuddin cluster since Sunday.

Also, health workers across the state have so far visited 2,84,201 households and screened 13,67,534 people in 26 districts as part of the government’s containment plan.