JOIN USTamil Nadu: 31 children under 10 years of age are coronavirus positive
Three more doctors tested positive for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu on Monday, taking the number of coronavirus-hit healthcare professionals in the state to 16, including five nurses. Also, 31 children under the age of 10 have so far tested positive for COVID-19 and are receiving treatment at various hospitals across the state.
The increase in the number of doctors and nurses contracting Coronavirus is a major cause of concern for the state, which is already facing a tough battle to contain the spread of COVID-19.
With the swab samples of 98 people rendering positive on Monday, the tally has gone up to 1,173, including 11 deaths and 58 discharges from hospitals. Of the 98, 91 are from “single source event”, an oblique reference to the Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation in Delhi.
Three doctors, two from ESIC Hospital in Coimbatore and one from a private hospital, tested positive for the virus on Monday, taking the number to 11, while five nurses were already receiving treatment for COVID-19. The government has been evading a direct reply to questions on why the number of health professionals getting affected due to the virus is increasing each passing day.
Health Secretary Dr Beela Rajesh said the state was fully prepared with huge quantities of PPEs and masks for healthcare workers to handle the pandemic. She also said the death rate in Tamil Nadu is at a low percentage and added that the focus is now on testing patients with a severe acute respiratory infection (SARI).
“62 SARI patients were tested today and none of them are positive for COVID-19. We will continue our efforts to reduce the death rate,” she said.
To a specific question, the Health Secretary said 31 children under the age of 10 so far tested positive. Sources said most of these children contracted the virus through attendees of the “single source event” or their contacts.
They said special care is being taken to treat these children as they fall under the “high-risk category”. “The monitoring mechanism is different when it comes to children. Every movement of theirs is monitored and their treatment protocol is different from that of adult patients,” a source said.
A 10-month-old baby was successfully treated for COVID-19 and discharged from ESIC Hospital in Coimbatore on April 6. As on Monday, the state has 34 testing centres – 25 in government hospitals and the remaining nine in the private sector.
The state currently has 43,278 passengers under home quarantine for 28 days and 136 asymptomatic passengers from highly affected countries are being quarantined in quarantine facilities near airport and 1,984 are under hospital isolation.
“Till now 12,746 samples have been taken from the passengers. 1,173 persons tested positive and testing of 1,136 samples is under process,” an update from the Health Department said.