Spike in COVID cases not 4th wave; don’t panic, says Health Minister

CHENNAI: State Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Tuesday told the Assembly that increase in the number of COVID cases in the State could not be considered as the fourth wave of the pandemic.

“There is no need to panic as the variant is mild, but persons with comorbidities should exercise caution,” he added.

Chief Minister MK Stalin had recently insisted the health department make mask-wearing compulsory in public places when the number of cases breaches 1,000. “At present, the number of cases in the State is around 350 and there was an increase of 5-10 cases a day. Since there was no cluster, it cannot be considered as the fourth wave of infection,” he said while responding to a special call attention motion moved by er of Opposition Edappadi K Palaniswami during zero hours in the House.

EPS said that the number of COVID cases was nearing around 400 and pointed to the 2 COVID-related fatalities on Monday. He urged the TN government to step up precautionary measures and conduct fever camps. “Engage the local bodies to conduct door-to-door campaigns to check for symptoms and create awareness among the public,” he said, and appealed to the government to make its stand clear on mask-wearing.

Replying to him and legislators of other political parties who flagged the issue, Subramanian clarified that the government had been taking necessary precautions in a transparent manner.

“From April 1, the department made mask-wearing compulsory in 11,333 facilities from primary health centres to government medical colleges. But, the public is not keen on wearing masks after seeing the second and third wave of the pandemic,” he pointed out.

The minister also clarified that 5 people have died in the last one month, including a 63-year-old woman in Chengalpattu on Monday. “These were treated as accidental Corona deaths,” he stated.

Adding that the Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya had appreciated the State government for its handling of COVID cases, he pointed out, “As per the Union Ministry’s instruction, the State Health Department has conducted mock drills in the last 2 days (April 10 and 11). District collectors are taking stock of availability of resources in government hospitals during the drill.”

He pointed out that there were 64,281 bed availability in government hospitals to handle COVID cases. “We can enhance the number of beds to 1.48 lakh and other necessary facilities within 24 hours if situation arises,” said Subramanian.