TN sees 700 plus new virus cases, nearly 1,000 recoveries

Three people died of COVID-19 while 743 tested positive in Tamil Nadu on Wednesday as the total cases breached the 13,000 mark, while nearly 1,000 others were discharged following recovery, the state government said. In a bid to contain the spread of the virus in four zones in the city which continued to record higher incidence, a micro-level plan has been launched to test even people with very mild 'influenza like illness' symptoms, it said.

The state's tally stood at 13,191 but the discharge of 987 people brought down the active cases to 7,219, narrowing the gap, in an encouraging sign. Of the new cases, as many as 83 were returnees from Maharashtra and two women and a man died at government hospitals here pushing the COVID-19 fatalities to 87, a health department bulletin said.

Also, a total of 54 people who returned from abroad have tested positive till Wednesday. After a gap of seven days,the state witnessed 700 plus cases, most of them from this metropolis and adjoining Chenglepet, Thiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, under which a large part of the city's suburban areas fall.

The number of those discharged far exceeded the newly infected for the second time in the space of a few days. On May 16, a total of 939 people recovered and were sent home while 477 reported positive for the pathogen on that day.

In the last three days, the new cases outnumbered the recoveries. In a turnaround, the number of discharged people overshot those newly infected again on Wednesday and till date, 5,882 people have recovered.

As regards testing, 3,60,068 samples have been so far been tested so far and on Wednesday alone 11,894 were examined. Meanwhile, the government reconstituted the field support team comprising IAS, IPS officials for Chennai, Chengelpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts for effective containment management, focused testing and effective contact tracing, isolation and quarantine management for preventing the further spread of the virus.

In Chennai, so far 8,228 people have tested positive. In Chengelpet the cases stood at 621, Tiruvallur 594 and Kancheepuram 223 which together account, nearly three fourths of the total cases in the state. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said the micro level plan 'in search of virus' has been launched in Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar and Kodambakkam zones of the city corporation.

Under the plan, even people with very mild 'influenza like illness' symptoms were being tested to help early identification and initiate suitable follow-up measures. As many as 5.20 lakh packs of 'Kabasura Kudineer' a immunity boosting herbal preparation (under the Indian system of medicine) had already been distributed in containment areas.

Also, now zinc and multi-vitamin tablets were also being provided to people in such areas, he said adding the government has deployed 50 vans for giving away the herbal syrup to the people. A total of 26 lakh masks were being distributed in the city especially in containment areas, the Minister said and urged the people to extend cooperation for the government's initiatives to check the spread of the dreaded virus.

"Those in containment zones should consume the Kudineer and take the multi vitamin tablets for boosting immunity and cooperate," he said. Mobile x-ray vans, deployed on the ground were being used to undertake chest x-rays in all cases whereever it was required, he said.