Delhi returnees spark worry in TN, coronavirus cases reach 74
Police register over 16,000 cases and seize 12,000 vehicles for violating lockdown; 1.45m packets of food supplies to be distributed; governor allocates Rs20m for COVID-19 battle
Returnees from a Tablighi Jamaat conference in New Delhi are piling up worries for the Tamil Nadu government as 13 of them have been admitted to hospitals with coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms.
The worries rise as seven more coroanavirus positive cases have been confirmed in the state, taking the total to 74.
Health officials are racing against time to trace people who came in contact with those who attended the religious congregation from March 13 to 15 in Delhi.
About 1,500 people from Tamil Nadu are reported to have attended the conference in Nizamuddin, Delhi.
There is worry also about the possibility of cases spreading from these people.
In Coimbatore alone, at least 82 people have coronavirus-like symptoms.
In Erode district, 10 of the 30 people who participated in the gathering have tested positive.
Officials said that a 54-year-old COVID-19 patient who had died last week had also attended the gathering.
Three of his family members have tested positive.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said 16 were tested positive, including 10 from Erode district.
Thirteen persons from Virudhunagar district who had attended the Tablighi Jamaat conference in New Delhi were admitted to a government hospital for coronavirus testing.
Virudhunagar District Collector R Kannan said they were already in home quarantine. “After there were reports that some of those, from other parts of the state, who had attended the conference testing positive for COVID-19, we have moved them to the isolation ward at Government Hospital in Virudhunagar,” Kannan said.
He asserted that all the 13 had no symptoms of the virus. Moving them to isolation ward was to keep a closer observation. Among them, four each were from Rajapalayam, Srivilliputtur and Virudhunagar and one from Aruppukottai.
Officials said that among those who were tested positive on Tuesday is a 43- year-old male who had travelled to Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
The 28 year-old-man was co-worker of a patient who was earlier tested positive at Thiruvannamalai. Three male patients at Villupuram had travel history to Delhi and two men at Madurai had travelled to Delhi.
All patients are in isolation and stable, the officials said.
The state health department on Tuesday said 3,96,147 people have been reviewed from 1,08,677 houses so far on account of COVID-19 symptoms.
An official communique said 2,271 health department staff are doing door-to-door review in 12 districts including Chennai, Madurai and Erode. “Residents are checked for cold, cough and breathing problems,” the communique said.
As part of enforcing the national lockdown, Tamil Nadu police have reportedly registered more than 16,000 cases and seized 12,000 vehicles.
A police statement said Rs5,25,000 has been collected as fine from violators. Police arrested 22,906 persons and seized 15,129 vehicles.
The government on Tuesday announced that over 1.45 million packets of basic food supplies like rice and dal will be procured soon, to be distributed to workers of the unorganised sector in the state.
The Civil Supplies Corporation will procure 1.45 million kits at a total cost of over Rs930 million. Each kit will have 15 kilogrammes of rice, one kilogrammes each of dal and oil.
These will be distributed to the workers who are registered members of the unorganised sector workers welfare boards through the district collectors.
The beneficiaries include over 24,000 registered migrant labourers, 40,000 non-registered migrant labourers and over 92,000 pensioners in the Tamil Nadu Construction Workers’ Welfare Board.
The Union government has also directed authorities to enrol unregistered workers in the unorganised sector immediately after the chaotic mass exodus from Delhi.
Also on Tuesday, Chief Minister Palanisamy has ordered extension of the service of retired medical workers.