A black Pongal for Tamil Nadu and a black Friday for Kerala. That’s how doctors in the two States described the status of pandemic in the two southern States. While the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 shot up to 23,459 in Tamil Nadu during the last 24 hours (out of 1.5 lakh samples tested), Kerala registered 16,338 cases on Friday. The death toll in Kerala reached 50, 568 while Tamil Nadu’s Department of Health Directorate said the number of victims succumbed to the pandemic till date reached 36,956.
Tamil Nadu Government, shocked over the spurt in the number of Covid-19 cases have tightened the rules and declared a partial shut down with many restrictions. Schools and Colleges have been asked to stick to online classes till further notice taking into account the warning issued by the Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association.
The Kerala Government in a review meeting held on Friday decided to shut down all schools and asked the Government and private establishments to opt for online mode in districts where Test Positivity Rate is more than 20 per cent. The State’s TPR on Friday stood at 23.68 per cent.