The state currently has 11,345 active cases and has seen 208 deaths, of which a large number have been senior citizens and those with co-morbidities.
Tamil Nadu has crossed the grim milestone of 25,000 total coronavirus cases, the only second state in India to do so after Maharashtra. On Wednesday, the Southern Indian state recorded a new high of 1,286 cases, while the numbers in capital city Chennai also went past the 1000-mark, with 1012 cases. The state currently has 11,345 active cases and has seen 208 deaths, of which a large number have been senior citizens and those with co-morbidities.
The state has been witnessing over 1000 cases daily over the last four days, with over 80% of the cases coming from Chennai alone. A discrepancy in data collection by the private labs has led the Chennai Corporation to issue a new set of instructions to collect personal information of the individuals whose samples are being taken. The civic body has stated that the labs are required to collect full address details including door number, street name, locality, pin code and also the persons Aadhaar number.
To ensure better traceability of the individuals, the civic body has also urged labs to call and verify the phone numbers of those being tested, before accepting the contact and personal details. If in case the suspected person does not possess an Aadhaar card and the sample has been taken, then he/she must be placed under quarantine until the results are declared
Addressing the media on Tuesday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami had said that cases were on the rise in Chennai and its adjoining districts of Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu. He reasoned that this was due to the population density and the crowded areas including slums. He stated that the state is testing around 13,000 people per day and that Tamil Nadu had a high recovery rate, which is over 57%, while the mortality rate has also been low.
The Chief Minister stated that there were a total of 3,371 ventilators across the state. In terms of the number of beds that are kept ready, Chennai has 17,500 beds and there are 75,000 across the state. He added that the government is also considering distributing masks to all ration card holders, adding that the Chennai corporation had already distributed 1.5 crore masks to the poor and needy.
While Tamil Nadu has extended the lockdown till June 30, the extension has come with a slew of relaxations. Dine-in with 50% occupancy will be permitted in hotels from June 8, salons and beauty parlours have opened from Monday and also a limited number of cabs are plying on the roads, besides the resumption of bus services in certain districts.
It is notable that Tamil Nadu is the first state to make it mandatory for customers at salons to give their Aadhaar Card number, along with their name address and phone number to ensure quick-contact tracing, if and when the need arises. While the services have resumed, the shops have been instructed to operate without air conditioning, on an appointment basis, with only 50% occupancy and less number of customers waiting at the parlours.
While all standalone shops and even large retailers, showrooms have been permitted to open for business, shopping malls remain shut. Public spaces, parks, beaches, gyms and swimming pools, clubs have remained closed since the first phase of the lockdown that began on March 25.
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