Rise in daily cases linked to testing: Health Secretary

Even as fresh COVID cases in the State continue to hover around 1,600 for the past few days, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said the minor rise reported recently was linked to testing. Considering that so many businesses and offices opening up, the rise was minor, he added.

“When there is a lockdown, the cases will decrease gradually. But once the relaxations are announced, the number of cases goes up. For eight crore population, when the disease is not eradicated, you will definitely end up with 1,500 to 1,600 cases,” he said.

According to him, there were only 500 cases per day in February because only 30,000-50,000 samples were being tested. “If 1.5 lakh samples were tested (as being done now), positive cases would have been thrice that number,” said Radhakrishnan.

The only solution to bring down COVID cases, according to him, was to increase the pace of vaccination and convince people to strictly follow COVID protocols instead of being careless about wearing masks and following social distancing.

Commenting on the vaccination drive, Radhakrishnan said the drive would be slow because vaccine production was not adequate. “Once production improves, we would vaccinate more eligible people in the State,” he said.

Meanwhile, State Health Minister Ma Subramanian urged health experts to counsel pregnant women on the importance of not insisting on C-sections. Participating in a community baby shower ceremony at Saidapet on Wednesday, he said, “Doctors should make sure that counselling is given to pregnant women when they come for monthly check-up, because we hear many women are insisting on giving birth on some auspicious day by performing C-section. It is not healthy for the newborn.”