CHENNAI: Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Saturday inspected an apartment complex with a cluster of COVID-19 cases in T Nagar. He noted that cases are seeing an increasing trend and the public must be careful as States like Kerala and Maharashtra have been recording more than 1,000 cases per day.
According to corporation officials, a 68-year-old woman from the apartment, who used to visit a hospital regularly for treatment first tested positive for COVID on May 27. Following this, her family members got tested and all five of them were positive. While the elderly woman was treated at a hospital and discharged, the rest are in home quarantine.
Also, the health minister said a family of six in Thousand Lights have tested positive and officials of the State Health Department had informed that the family is expected to be out of isolation in the next three days.
"Zone 9 (Teynampet) and 12 (Alandur) are seeing an increase in COVID cases. To contain the spread, contact tracing and testing is being done. We have appointed volunteers to monitor the patients in case of family clusters to assist them with getting essentials," the Minister said.
Ma Subramanian noted that colleges are a major reason for the increasing number of cases. “Over the past three months, there have been no deaths. The State had only been recording 20 to 30 cases per day but with clusters emerging in education institutions, cases started surging.
"There are as many as 370 active cases in educational institutions. But, on a positive note, everybody's condition is stable and are all asymptomatic," he said, adding that educational institutions should ensure that students follow all safety measures at common eating places and use masks on campus.
The IIT-Madras and Shri Sathya Sai Medical College are now free of clusters. Cases at Anna University and VIT are also under control and patients are being constantly monitored, said the health minister.
Union government's warning over Chennai and Chengalpattu
As per district-wise COVID data, two districts - Chennai and Chengalpattu - have recorded an increase in weekly cases and positivity, and this requires focused intervention from State administration, the Union government had cautioned in its letter to Tamil Nadu government.
Radhakrishnan, in his letter to district collectors and other officials, stressed the need to follow a five-fold control strategy which includes COVID-appropriate behaviour, monitoring clusters of new cases, adequate testing, monitoring influenza-like illness and SARI cases and warning on spread of infection, and genomic sequencing of samples of international passengers.