With 1,562 persons testing positive for covid-19 on Monday, the number of active coronavirus afflicted patients in Tamil Nadu reached 15,413. According to a press release issued by the Health Department on Monday, till date the State has tested 33,229 persons. The day also saw 528 persons cured of the pandemic leaving hospitals for their homes taking the number of patients who were cured till date to 17,527.
But the death toll is a blot on the Tamil Nadu statistics as 17 persons succumbed to the pandemic on Monday and the total fatalities in the State stood at 286. Out of the 17 who breathed their last on Monday, nine were senior citizens, seven were in the age group of 40 to 58 while one person was 22 years of age.
The press release further stated that a total of 5.8 lakh persons were tested for the disease till date. Chennai tested positive for 1,149 covid-19 patients and this took the total number of cases ion the Metro to 23,298. The interesting news from the districts of Changalpettu, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur (all neighbouring Chennai) is that the number of persons tested positive for the pandemic has come down, much to the reli ef of the officials.
While Chengalpattu, housing some of the major industrial parks in the State, tested 134 positive cases, Kancheepuram tested just 18 cases. Thiruvallur which has been closely behind Chennai in the number of patients tested 57 cases and the number of active cases came down to 1386.
Meanwhile the demand to postpone the Class 10 public examination grew louder on Monday. M K Stalin, president, DMK, asked the Government of Tamil Nadu not to play with the lives of children by conducting the public examination at this juncture. Dr Ramdoss, founder of the PMK, an ally of the ruling AIADMK came out in the open questioning the government’s move to go ahead with the examination scheduled from June 15 as there was no let up in the spread of coronavirus cases.Madras High Court will hear the State Government on June 11 in a public interest litigation which questioned the propriety of holding the public examination at the time of a pandemic. The petitioners said that the intransigence of the government in going ahead with the public examination would put the lives of nine children under threat.