Tamil Nadu on Friday witnessed an unprecedented spike in the number of Covid-19 cases. Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar while addressing the media via video-conferencing said, “Total cases in the state are 2,526.”
While repeatedly assuring that the state government is keeping its best foot forward to contain the spread of the virus, the minister added that Tamil Nadu has the highest recovery rate (54 per cent) and the lowest mortality rate (1.10 per cent) in India. Over 1,29,000 samples have been tested for Covid-19 in the state so far, which is 14 per cent of all samples tested in India, Vijayabaskar said.
A 98-year-old man died in Chennai on Friday, taking the total tally of the state’s Covid-19 casualties to 28.
Chennai alone has 1,082 cases. As many as 176 of the 203 new Covid-19 cases on Friday were reported from Chennai. The Tamil Nadu government has appointed Dr J Radhakrishnan as the special nodal officer for Greater Chennai to contain the spread of the disease any further.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has identified five major Covid-19 clusters in the city. These clusters arose from residents who returned from abroad, attendees of the Nizamuddin Tablighi Jamaat Markaz congregation among others. Vika Nagar and Koyambedu are the latest areas to have been added to this list of clusters.
While addressing the media, Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said that multiple cases are being reported from a few areas in the northern part of Chennai. “These are densely populated areas and lead to higher chances of transmission,” G Prakas said.
At present, the Chennai Corporation has identified 233 barricaded containment areas. The central government, meanwhile, has put 12 districts in the state under the category of red zones, one in the green zone and the remaining 24 districts in orange zones.
Source: https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story/tn-sees-highest-single-day-spike-with-205-cases-233-containment-areas-identified-in-chennai-1673490-2020-05-01
