As many as 86 people, including 85 returnees from the Delhi Tablighi Jamaat meet on Sunday tested positive for coronavirus in Tamil Nadu, taking the total number of cases in the state to 571, a senior official said. This is the fifth straight day Tamil Nadu has witnessed a sharp surge in the number of positive cases and continues to be in second position the country with the maximum cases following Maharashtra, which has 747 infected people.
While 85 men were attendees of the conference, another man had a travel history to Dubai, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh said.
Chennai topped the list of infected in the state with 95 followed by Coimbatore (58) and Dindigul (45).
So far, the state has tested 4,612 samples, 1,748 people are in isolation wards and eight have been discharged following recovery, the official said.
The focus of the government at the present juncture was the contagion's containment and thus preventing the 'third stage' of community transmission, she said.
As part of the containment initiatives, over nine lakh households and 38 lakh plus people have been covered by deploying about 15,000 field personnel, she said.
"Full fledged containment measures and judicious testing is our strategy," Beela Rajesh said.
Under the Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) surveillance, 650 samples were tested, out of which four tested positive, she said adding all the four had a travel history.
Outcomes from SARI surveillance and containment measures were among the key pointers to decide later on if the virus has progressed to community transmission.
"We are testing more than Maharashtra which has the maximum cases and testing centres are also being increased gradually.
In the whole of India, Tamil Nadu has the maximum number of testing centres," she said, adding there was no paucity of testing kits.
Tamil Nadu has 17 testing centres, including 11 in the government sector.
Efforts were on put up reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing amenities in State-run medical college hospitals and lab technicians were also being trained, she said, answering a question.
The State has been looking at both short and long-term measures considering aspects, including a "worst-case scenario," (in the event of further significant rise in positive cases), based on projection models that took into account scenarios seen in several countries, she said.
The COVID-19 patient - a 60-year-old man- who died today here, was stable till last evening and suddenly he developed breathing difficulties and he had to be put on a ventilator but he died, she said.
Meanwhile, officials in Keezhakarai sealed parts of the town after 300 people attended the funeral of a 70-year-old businessman who died of coronavirus.
The man, who had returned from Malayasia, died at a government hospital in Chennai, officials said. His body was later brought to Keezhkarai and buried, they said.
Officials said all those who attended the funeral have been isolated and quarantined.
District Collector Veeraragahava Rao visited the spot and ordered initiation of disinfection measures.
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