‘TN spike caused by 1.5K Delhi returnees’

“This has increased the number of cases in TN. Those in touch with foreign visitors in Erode have also got the virus,”

Palaniswami said on Monday.Senior health officials pointed out that the first two cases reported in Erode were of two Thailand citizens who had come to Chennai from Delhi after attending a religious conference in March. The Thai Nationals met more than 169 families and about 1,500 people, including the ones who had attended the conference, along with them. According to Health officials, 25 patients who have tested positive and have been admitted at the IRT Government Perundurai Hospital in Erode had direct contact with the Thai nationals. “At least five people tested positive immediately after coming in contact with them. Later, eight more contacts were reported to be positive on March 29, while 10 more cases were reported on March 30,” an official said.

Efforts are now on to trace all the 1,500 people from TN who had either attended that conference or have come in contact with those who attended the conference. “We have traced more than 700 people and efforts are on to trace the rest. We have notified all those who attended the conference using contact tracing to report to the health personnel immediately.

All samples will be sent for testing,” said an official from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Also, eight more have been quarantined in Ooty Government Hospital on Monday as they returned from Delhi after attending a conference. “Their swabs have been sent for testing,” Nilgiris Collector J Innocent Divya said. Most of the people who attended the conference are from Tiruchy, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Erode, Pudukkottai and Nagapattinam. A government release said of the remaining seven new cases, four were Chennai-based ‘family contacts’ of a US returnee who had tested positive. The four include two women, a 15-year old girl and 20-year old man. A 25-year old man is a family contact of a positive patient and has been admitted at the Government Hospital in Madurai. The other two cases are a 50-year old woman from Broadway here and a 42-year old man of Karur district. They are being treated at RGGGH and at the Karur Government Hospital respectively.

Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Monday said that the State, in coordination with private hospitals, has created 17,089 beds in COVID19 isolation wards with 3,018 ventilators. “Another 2,500 ventilators will be added soon,” Palaniswami, said after holding a review meeting with top state officials. To improve medical infrastructure, the government will soon procure 25 lakh N-95 masks, 11 lakh PPE and 1.5 crore general masks. As on date, 3,420 people have completed house quarantine of 28 days and another 1,925 suspected to have symptoms are under observation. Test results are pending for 121 samples. Orders for 30,000 testing kits have also been placed. Meanwhile, the eldest son of Noushad from Kovilpalayam, who died of COVID-19 last week, tested positive. His mother and younger son had already tested positive on Friday bringing the total number of cases to 4 in Madurai