Tamil Nadu ramps up testing but still sees 1,373 fresh coronavirus cases and 12 deaths

Five persons, including a 17-year-old girl, below the age of 50 are among 12 people who were reported dead in Tamil Nadu on Thursday after testing positive for coronavirus, even as the state ramped-up its numbers by testing over 16,000 samples in a single day.

And for the fifth consecutive day, Tamil Nadu crossed the 1,000-mark with 1,373 persons testing positive for coronavirus on Thursday with 1,241 of them belonging to Chennai and Chengalpattu districts alone. While Chennai reported 1,072 positive cases, its neighbouring district of Chengalpattu also reported a massive spike with 169 cases on Thursday.

The state also saw ramped up its testing numbers as 16,447 samples were tested on Thursday alone, which is 2,000 samples more than the numbers tested on Wednesday. The Health Department came under severe criticism for not increasing its testing numbers despite having 74 labs even as cases were increasing.

The state’s tally now stands at 27,256 including 14,901 discharges and 220 deaths – 12 of which were reported on Thursday. The daily bulletin released by the Health Department showed five persons below the age of 50 died and their deaths were attributed to various co-morbid conditions.

The state has been classifying deaths due to coronavirus into co-morbid and exclusive of COVID-19 deaths – a study done by the Health Department also claimed 84 percent of the deaths were due to co-morbidities, while only the remaining 14 percent died because of coronavirus infection.

A 25-year-old woman from Vellore died due to respiratory failure after being admitted with bronchial asthma, while a 17-year-old girl, the youngest patient to lose her life in the state, who was admitted with Type I Diabetes Mellitus passed away on Wednesday night due to cardiopulmonary arrest. Others who died were 46, 47 and 33 years old.

As Chennai grappled with 18,693 cases, the city administration has asked people to compulsorily wear face masks for the next one month at least to contain further spread of the virus. Special Nodal Officer for Chennai city and Revenue Commissioner J Radhakrishnan told reporters that fever camps have been set up at all 140 urban primary health centers and at another 100 locations to screen people for any coronavirus symptom.

He also said the administration will shift to institutional quarantine anyone who is found violating the rules within the containment zones. “We appeal to the people of Chennai to wear masks for at least the next one month. If you wear mask and follow all the precautionary measure, we can contain the spread,” Radhakrishnan said.