Tamil Nadu Government has pressed the panic button and tightened the regulations to check the spread of coronavirus in the State in general and Chennai city in particular as there was further increase on Friday in the number of persons tested positive for coronavirus.
Dr C Vijaya Baskar , minister for health , said in his media briefing that 203 persons tested positive for coronavirus in the State on Friday. This is the highest number of persons testing positive on a single day. Chennai continued to be a cause of worry as 176 out of the 203 were from the metropolis. A 92-year old man succumbed to Covid in a Chennai hospital taking the total number of fatalities in the State till date to 28.
While medical experts like Dr C V Krishnaswamy, Dr Rajesh Kesavan and Dr Ranjit Vijayahari are of the view that the coronavirus in Chennai has entered the phase of community transmission , the health minister made light of the figures by stating that it was because of increased number of samples being tested that the numbers appear high.
“We have 45 laboratories in the State to test the samples. The figure of 176 persons testing positive for coronavirus is because we could test 3200 samples on a single day in Chennai alone. Our medical teams have tested 1,29,000 samples all over the State which is second only to Maharashtra,” said Dr Baskar.
The Minister said Tamil Nadu has the highest recovery rate in the country and also the highest testing rate. “We perform 120 tests for every 1,00,000 people in the State and there are 73 containment zones. We have to be careful but there is no need to panic,” he said.
But the Tamil Nadu has beefed up the police security in the capital city and has announced that persons who are caught loitering or jaywalking would be sent to 15 days prison term. In a major development, Tamil Nadu Government on Friday appointed J Radhakrishnan, principal secretary/ commissioner, Revenue Administration, who is a veteran in managing disasters and mishaps, has been appointed as the Special Nodal Officer to co-ordinate with Covid-19 related issues and to contain the spread of the disease in the capital district.
Medical experts and social activists in Chennai are aghast over the indifferent attitude of the people towards the regulations and protocols ordered by the Government to check the spread of the pandemic. Dr Krishnaswamy said the move by the government to lift the shut down while the national lockdown was in place has upset the rhythm of the war against coronavirus. “The disease could be checked only by following the social distancing norms and staying indoors as per the guidelines. But what I see is a free for all crowd and shopping in Chennai. There were instances of genuine people on their way to hospitals being send back by the police while shoppers and loiterers going scot free,” said Dr Krishnaswamy.
Dr Renjit Vijayahari , gastroenterologist, closely studying the spreading of the coronavirus in Tamil Nadu is of the view that the pandemic has entered the phase-three of its spreading which means the Chennai is on the verge of community transmission. “The number of persons tested positive on Thursday and Friday are not the same people who were tested negative on Wednesday. The magnitude of testing is very low in India as well as in Tamil Nadu. Why the government is not accepting the fact that community transmission has set in is surprising . Any person with basic knowledge of diseases like coronavirus could make out that in a city like Chennai where the density of population is high, it is difficult to prevent the progress of the disease from reaching the community transmission,” said Dr Vijayahari.