CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday said that RT-PCR tests will be performed on all passengers flying in from covid hotspot countries like China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.
Speaking to press persons here in the city, he said that based on a tweet from the Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, the state government has started taking samples from passengers from these countries and even on transit flights at Madurai, Chennai, Tiruchy and Coimbatore international airports from Sunday. He further said that as per the instructions of the union ministry, 2% random RT-PCR samples are taken from international passengers.
Assuring the public that there is no reason to panic, M Subramanian said that the chief minister had earlier discussed the availability of oxygen and beds and taken all preventive measures. While replying to a question, he said that though face masks are not mandatory, they are advisable so that people can protect themselves.
He said Covid-19 cases have been in single digits for the last 15 days and an average of 4,000 to 5,000 RT-PCR tests are being taken a day. He said genomic sequence is done in Tamil Nadu if there is a cluster of cases and it is the only state government to have such capacity.