As neighbouring states like Kerala and four other states witness a spike in the number of new Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government has intensified surveillance in districts bordering Kerala. The government has also decided to make it mandatory for all returnees to by flight to compulsorily undergo the RT-PCR test.
While trying to bring down the number of active cases in the state, the state health department is continuing to aggressively test for the virus and tracing its contacts, informed Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan.
Expressing concern over non-compliance by people, including those who gather for political rallies, he appealed to the people not to lower the guard as five states in India have recorded an increase in cases.
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"Wearing masks and maintaining social distancing should strictly be followed. It was noticed during certain political meetings that the cadres did not wear face masks or follow social distancing. Such an offhand attitude could lead to unpleasant consequences," he said and pointed out to an incident in Amaravathy district in Maharashtra where a family has been infected by the virus.
Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, apart from Kerala have recorded a surge in daily new cases of COVID-19.
The Union Health Ministry had said both Kerala and Maharashtra cumulatively accounted for over 74 per cent of India's total active cases.
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"Tamil Nadu has a low positivity rate of 0.9 per cent per 100 persons and a majority of those who get admitted early with Coronavirus symptoms are treated and discharged. I appeal to the people not to delay if they have Coronavirus symptoms but undergo test and treatment accordingly."
"Late arrival invariably leads to problems," the health secretary told reporters here after inaugurating three RO plants at the Tamil Nadu government multi-super speciality Hospital, here, that has been sponsored by the RCC Platinum Trust.
When his attention was drawn to the non-compliance to face masks and social distancing at political rallies, he said rules were the same for all people who gather in public places.
"We have instructed health officials to mandate the wearing of face masks and maintain social distancing before granting permission for meetings besides resort to random testing at such meetings," Radhakrishnan said.
On the preventive measures, he said apart from surveillance camps, the thermal screening will be carried out in the border districts and cluster testing will be done in Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpattu districts.
All the passengers arriving by flight should have RT-PCR negative certificates.
"Passengers from the UK, Brazil and South Africa will be subjected to TR-PCR test upon arrival," he said.
About 36 direct returnees from the UK and their 26 contacts, who tested positive, were treated and discharged. And 10 among the 11 passengers with new virus strain from the UK too were treated and discharged, he said.
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Further, the district health officials have been told to be extra cautious owing to the reporting of dengue cases in few southern districts and also many from Tirunelveli district had a Mumbai connection, the official added.
With PTI Inputs
