CHENNAI: Two persons, including a government school headmaster, succumbed to COVID-19 on Saturday. In the first case, a 53-year-old woman died in Bodi near Theni. She contracted the infection from her husband who travelled to Delhi for the Jamaat. In Villupuram, a 51-year-old government school headmaster, who went to Delhi, died in hospital.
He was buried in a local graveyard.Sources say the man already had tuberculosis and respiratory issues. He had gone to Delhi for the Jamaat, and when the government made an appeal to all attendees, he voluntarily came forward and got tested. He was buried in the presence of a small group of relatives, as per the Islamic customs.
Law Minister C Ve Shanmugam monitored the entire process. The man’s family is now anxious about their health, and the government has arranged counselling sessions for them. “All those connected with the deceased have been identified and quarantined,” said district collector A Annadurai.
Three more persons test positive in Vellore
Three more tested positive in Vellore, taking the district’s tally to six. All three of them participated in the Jamaat, and are currently under isolation. RN Palayam, Karugamputhur, Ditter Line, Kaspa and Chinna Allapuram in Vellore and Barneespuram in Katpadi have been brought under containment plan. Movement to these areas has been restricted.
In Cuddalore, five more have tested positive taking the total district tally to eight. All the eight patients have a Delhi connection. Officials have isolated the family members of all eight patients at the students’ hostel of Annamalai University. Collector V Anbuselvan said that on March 23, a student of Annamalai University tested positive, and the administration is now trying to trace his contacts. In Villupuram, a private hospital doctor has been admitted to the GH with COVID-19 symptoms after he allegedly treated a man who later tested positive for the virus. His test results are awaited.
In the highest single-day jump yet, Ranipet recorded 18 positive cases on Saturday, taking the tally to 23. All of them have a Delhi connection. The persons are from Visharam, Arcot, Kalmelkuppam and Banavaram. Containment activities have been initiated, said officials.
Indigo, Air Asia passengers asked to report
As part of its contact-tracing efforts, the city corporation has called forward all those who had travelled from Delhi to Chennai on March 24 in two flights. Passengers on the Indigo flight (6E-2403) which departed from New Delhi at 3:15am and reached Chennai at 6am on March 24 and the Air Asia (I5-765) flight that departed New Delhi at 6:25pm and reached Chennai at 9:10pm on the same day have been asked to isolate themselves for 28 days from the date of travel.
A senior corporation official told Express, “Some people on the flight have tested positive which is why we made this announcement.” In case passengers develop any symptoms, they have been asked to seek medical care or contact the city corporation, a notification on Saturday evening said. Passengers may contact the helplines 044-2538 4520 or 044- 4612 2300.
Jamaat attendee’s mother and son positive
Three more persons from Namakkal have tested positive, taking the total district tally to 24. Two of them are the mother (57) and son (14) of a 38-year-old man who attended the Delhi event and tested positive earlier. Another 51-year-old Delhi-return from the district is also positive. In Salem, a 43-year-old man who attended Tablighi Jamaat Conference in New Delhi tested positive, taking the district tally to nine.