113 new Covid cases in Tamil Nadu; minister warns of clusters – Times of India

CHENNAI: In view of a surge in Covid-19 cases and weekly positivity rate, the Centre on Friday advised five states to maintain a strict watch and take pre-emptive action, if needed, to control any emerging spread of the infection.
In a letter to Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Telangana, Karnataka and Maharashtra, Union health secretary Rajesh Bhushan highlighted that a few states were reporting a higher contribution to India’s caseload, indicating the possibility of a localised spread of the infection.
Fresh cases in Tamil Nadu dropped to 113 compared to 145 on Thursday, though new infections in Chennai rose to 81, compared to 58 on Thursday. Clusters within families, workplaces and apartment complexes have risen over the past week, health minister Ma Subramanian said.
Puducherry reported 11 fresh cases.
Fresh cases in Tamil Nadu dropped marginally to 113 compared to 145 on Thursday and 139 new cases on Wednesday, although fresh cases in Chennai rose rapidly to 81 compared to 58 on Thursday. Active cases continued to increase in the state to 756 compared to 711 on Thursday. There were no deaths and the cumulative toll stood at 38,025.
Clusters of cases, particularly within families, workplaces and apartment complexes, have increased over the past one week, health minister Ma Subramanian said on Friday, after inspecting the Chennai Airport for surveillance on international passengers. “While 2% of passengers on all international flights will be tested for Covid-19, the screening for monkeypox will be done for all passengers coming from affected countries. So far, we have not seen monkeypox cases in the state, but airport staff will screen all international passengers who are sick,” he said.
Chengalpet, which reported 53 new cases on Thursday, recorded 11 on Friday. “The cluster of cases in VIT campus has come down significantly. Since we managed to contain the cluster efficiently, new cases have come down,” Subramanian said. Cases came down in Tiruvallur to five from about 11 on Thursday. While Kancheepuram reported four new cases, Coimbatore added three, Tirunelveli added one and there were one each in Kanyakumari, Krishnagiri, Tenkasi, Thanjavur, Tiruvannamalai and Trichy. One patient who travelled from UAE tested positive. Twenty six of the 38 districts reported no new cases.
More than 80% of the active cases in the state were reported from Chennai (370) and Chengalpet (257). While Coimbatore had 29 active cases, Tiruvallur had 26 and Kancheepuram reported 14. Twenty districts reported between one and eight active cases, while 13 others had zero active cases.