IIT Madras reported 12 Covid cases a day back. (file)
Eighteen people have tested positive for COVID-19 at IIT Madras, officials said on Friday, taking a total of 30 cases to the fore in two days, amid a spike in coronavirus infections in some parts of the country.
Tamil Nadu reported 39 fresh COVID-19 cases on Thursday, pushing the caseload to 34,53,390, as the state witnessed an increasing trend.
A medical bulletin said the number of deaths stood at 38,025 with zero fatalities being recorded in the last 24 hours.
Considering the rise in new cases, the government directed the health department to test around 25,000 samples per day from the current 18,000 cases.
Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, who visited the IIT-Madras campus on Thursday, said the 12 people who tested positive on campus were ‘vaccinated’, were ‘curing’ and did not require hospitalisation. Was.
“We have collected 365 samples today (at IIT Madras) and may need to test 1,500-2,000 people in the area here if the positive cases increase…”, he said.
Noting that adherence to COVID-19 norms in public places is declining, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the state government has not yet announced the easing of restrictions.
“Though some states have announced relaxation on wearing face masks in public places, Tamil Nadu (government) has not made any such announcement yet,” he said.
Urging people not to let down their guard, he said the daily cases in New Delhi increased till Wednesday and a similar situation could emerge in Tamil Nadu if people show laxity in following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour. Huh.
“It has been decided by the health department to increase the total number of samples tested daily. Yesterday it was 16,000 (16,583), today it will be 18,000 (18,825). We have directed the department officials to increase the total number The number of samples collected per day is 25,000”, he said.
“People should understand that during the first, second and third wave of COVID-19, the spread of the virus in the state reduced as people followed the COVID-19 behaviour. Now the cases have increased to 39 (in Tamil Nadu) and Following are the coronavirus protocols they (public) can prevent its spread” he said.
Chennai, which has been reporting cases below 20 in the past few days, accounts for the majority of the new coronavirus with 21 cases, followed by Chengalpet six, while Vellore and Thanjavur reported two cases respectively. One case each was reported in Kancheepuram, Nagapattinam, Namakkal, Tirupathur, Tiruvallur, Tiruvarur.
The state capital leads the districts with a total of 7,51,356 cases.