CHENNAI: Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, on Tuesday, wrote a letter to district Collectors and Chennai Corporation Commissioner amid the rising Covid-19 cases. He urged them to sensitise people on the need to wear masks in crowded places, to get vaccinated and maintain social distancing. On Tuesday, the State recorded 144 new cases as against 90 on Monday. The test positivity rate (TPR) increased from 0.8% on Monday to 1.3% on Tuesday.
“It would be prudent to take the warning signs seriously as Monday’s dip was more likely due to lower testing and on weekdays higher numbers are anticipated due to focussed testing,” the Health Secretary said in the letter.
Radhakrishnan said with the detection of BA.4 and BA.5 lineages of Omicron variant in Tamil Nadu and increasing cases in Kerala, Maharashtra, Karnataka, the State is bound to have a steady if not steep increase in cases if Covid-appropriate behaviour is not maintained. After Chennai, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram, Coimbatore and Tiruvallur, Madurai, Vellore, Erode, Thanjavur and Ranipet districts have now started reporting more cases, Radhakrishnan noted.
Every week at least one new institutional cluster is being reported and index cases in these clusters have had recent travel history, he said. Isolated cases have also been reported from institutions in Kancheepuram and The Nilgiris and saturation tests are being done to prevent clusters, Radhakrishnan said. He added there is no need to panic as there is only localised increase with identifiable reasons in select districts, but considering the earlier experience we should be alert.
Another cluster?
According to Health Department officials, 18 cases were reported from the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development in Sriperambadur on Tuesday.