CHENNAI/MADURAI/TIRUCHY/THANJAVUR: In the 31st COVID-19 mega vaccination camp held on Sunday, 17.04 lakh people were vaccinated in the State. According to health department data till 7 pm, 17,04,454 people were jabbed with the first dose administered to 3,4,155 people, the second to 10,56,153, and precautionary dose to 3,0,146.
Speaking at Thanjavur, state Health and Family Welfare minister Ma Subramanian said that the hospitalisation rate among those testing positive for COVID-19 in the State is currently only 5 per cent. Addressing media after inspecting a camp in Municipal Colony, he said that 95 per cent of patients are under home quarantine while the remaining 5 per cent are being treated at hospitals.
Further, mentioning the daily case tally in the past week to have been static at around 2,500, he said, only those with co-morbidities are admitted to hospitals. Surveys indicated 88 per cent of the population in Tamil Nadu is immune to COVID-19, he added.
According to Subramanian, though the current variant was more contagious, there has been no danger of loss of lives due to COVID-19. There have been no deaths from the infection over the past three months.
He added, though a woman who recently died in Thanjavur had tested positive, field enquiries revealed she had consumed poison a few days before her death. Similarly a senior citizen who died from Covid-19 in Chennai had comorbidities, he said.
On the vaccination status in TN, the minister said 94.68 per cent of the population got the first dose, and 85.47 per cen, the second. Responding to a query on the possibilities of a lockdown, he said CM Stalin advised further measures only when hospitalisation rate was 40 per cen or more.
On building new universities across the State, the health minister said, "The CM urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to construct medical college hospitals in the newly-created districts including Tenkasi, Mayiladuthurai, and Ranipet."
Two Siddha universities will be started in Chennai and Namakkal soon, he added. After inspecting a camp in Madurai, he said, the tender for construction of Madurai AIIMS will commence in two months and, the construction will start in six months.
Vacancies in medical institutions and hospitals will be filled up before September 2022, he said adding that 50 hospitals, including 25 PHCs, will come up in Tamil Nadu, targeting municipal localities as announced by the CM. Director of Public Health Dr TS Selvavinayagam, Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and collectors, inspected the camps across the State.