JOIN USTamil Nadu reports 17 fresh coronavirus cases; tally now 67
Tamil Nadu on Monday reported 17 new COVID-19 patients, including 10 who came in contact with two Thai nationals, the biggest spurt in numbers witnessed in a day ever since coronavirus outbreak began early this month.
With the fresh cases, the number of people tested positive for COVID-19 stands at 67, including four who have been discharged, one person who has recovered but still remains in hospital and one person who has passed away.
Of the 17 new cases, 15 patients have contact history. While four family members of a 25-year-old youth who returned from the US have tested positive, one more family member of the 54-year-old man who passed away last week has also contracted the virus.
A 50-year-old woman from Broadway here without travel history and a 42-year-old man, who returned from New Delhi recently, have also tested positive for the virus. Besides, 10 men, who came in contact with the Thai nationals who arrived in Tamil Nadu from New Delhi in the second week of March, have also tested positive for COVID-19.
This takes the number of people directly or indirectly infected by the Thai nationals to 24, including a 29-year-old woman doctor and her 10-month-old baby boy. The doctor had treated a 63-year-old man, a contact of the Thai nationals, at the Erode Railway Hospital before she was transferred to Coimbatore.
Briefing reporters, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said more than 1,500 people from Tamil Nadu had attended a conference in New Delhi which also saw the participation of the Thai nationals. He said the government has placed orders for 11 lakh N-95 masks and 1.5 crore regular masks.
Even as the fresh cases led to cause for worry, there was hope as well – two patients, who returned from US, were discharged on Sunday taking the number of those recovering from the illness in the state to 5.
The government said 43,538 people who returned from abroad are under home quarantine for 28 days, while 79 asymptomatic passengers from highly affected countries are being quarantined in quarantine facilities near airport and 295 are under hospital isolation.