Despite Tamil Nadu Government’s stance that all is well on the coronavirus front, the number of persons tested positive for Covid-19 reached 4,829 by Wednesday evening. The day saw 771 persons testing positive for the pandemic on Wednesday, the highest number of persons testing positive on a single day.
The death toll reached 35 in the State while Chennai has become the epicentre of the pandemic. The release issued by the Department of Health said 324 persons tested positive in Chennai making the total number of Covid-19 patients in the metropolis to 2,328.
The release further said that all persons tested positive were contacts of Covid-19 patients, which means all of them were infected from patients suffering from the pandemic.
The number of cops working in the State Police Head Quarters who have been tested positive reached 13 by Wednesday evening.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami asked the people not to panic because of the spurt in the number of coronavirus cases in the State. “This is because of the increase in the number of tests being done in Tamil Nadu compared to other States in the country. 1,88,241 samples have been tested till date and we have 52 testing centres in the State, the State with largest number of testing labs,” said the Chief Minister while speaking to reporters earlier in the day.
It was on March 7, 2020 the State confirmed the detection of the first coronavirus patient. It took 36 days for the number of patients with COVID-19 t reach the 1000 mark.
Within the next 16 days Tamil Nadu’s coronavirus cases crossed 2000. The number shot past the 3000 mark in five days and by Monday evening it stood at 3,550.
It crossed the 4000 mark in just two days. As things stand today, the number of coronavirus patients in the State is all set to cross the 5,000 mark by Thursday evening.
Medical experts and government officials are worried over the opening of the liquor outlets in the State on Thursday morning. “It is certain that we will see more crowd in front of the liquor shops and the possibility of infections increasing is very high,” said a government doctor who did not want his name to be quoted.