Tamil Nadu CM Edappadi K Palaniswami tests negative for Covid-19; state tests over 15L samples

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has tested negative for the novel coronavirus, the government said on Tuesday. Tests were conducted on him and his staff at the Chief Minister’s Camp Office here on Monday.

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An official statement from the Director of Information and Public Relations Department on Tuesday morning said besides the Chief Minister, all officials and staff attached to the CM’s camp office, that couples as his residence as well, have also tested negative.

Sources said this is the third time Palaniswami has taken the Covid-19 test since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus in March. His swab samples were collected and tested for the first time in June when staff at the Chief Minister’s office in the Secretariat tested positive for Covid-19. One of his staff, an under-secretary level officer, also succumbed to the deadly virus.

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“As part of the government’s testing initiative, samples of the Chief Minister and officials and staff working at the Camp Office were collected on July 13. The Chief Minister has tested negative for Covid-19. The results of officials and staff have also come out negative,” the statement said.

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The Chief Minister’s test results come days after his cabinet colleague P Thangamani, the Electricity Minister, tested positive for Covid-19. Thangamani had met Palaniswami a day before his swab samples returned positive. So far, three ministers in the AIADMK cabinet – K P Anbalagan, Thangamani and Sellur K Raju – have tested positive for the novel Coronavirus, besides over half-a-dozen MLAs belonging to both AIADMK and DMK.

Tamil Nadu has conducted the highest number of tests in the country so far by testing over 15 lakh samples at 105 labs across the state. As of Monday, the state had tested 15,85,782 samples with 1,42,798 patients testing positive. Of these, 92,567 have been discharged after treatment, while active cases stand at 48,196 persons, including those under isolation. The death toll stands at 2,032.