The Department of Health and Family Welfare has not been able to directly establish the source of infection for 23 COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu so far, Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said on Friday. The Chief Secretary’s comments come a day after Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami said there is a possibility of the state going into stage 3 of the COVID-19 spread - community transmission.
Meanwhile, 77 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in the state on Friday, of which 70 are linked to a single source event, directly or indirectly. This puts the total number of cases in Tamil Nadu at 911.
A patient who was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 in Thoothukudi died on Friday, taking the death toll to nine. As of Friday, 44 patients have been discharged on recovery in Tamil Nadu.
The press meet was a departure from the usual one addressed by Health Secretary Beela Rajesh.
The Chief Secretary revealed that all 77 cases recorded on Friday were from containment zones established across the state, indicating that the spread of the virus has not spilled out of these areas.
He said that the state government has begun monitoring all cases of Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI) being reported in hospitals: all SARI cases are being tested for COVID-19 as well.
“71 SARI cases have been reported in Tamil Nadu in the last 24 hours and none of them were reported positive for COVID-19. The results of five SARI samples are in process,” he said.
Explaining steps taken to contain the spread of novel coronavirus in Tamil Nadu, K Shanmugam stated that all family members of COVID-19 positive patients are subjected to testing, which will be completed in a day or two. He added that persons who came in contact with the COVID-19 patients have been quarantined and they will also be tested if they develop symptoms.
Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami had, on Thursday, stated that the first consignment of 50,000 rapid test kits would arrive in the state by Thursday night. However, as of Friday evening, the kits are yet to arrive. Rapid antibody tests are faster and cheaper than the real-time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests, which are the only ones that can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes the disease COVID-19. Antibody tests, however, will be the preliminary screening test for COVID-19.
When questioned about the delay, the Chief Secretary said that the central government has also placed a purchase order for testing kits and that it has told the state government that it will send a portion of its consignment to the state. Hence, he said, there will be a delay of a day or two in receiving the kits in the state. He, however, clarified that the government of Tamil Nadu is not solely dependent on the Centre for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), masks, ventilators and testing kits.
The top bureaucrat said that the state has also made arrangements to procure medical equipment independently. Stating that the National Health Mission has given Rs 314 crore so far as Tamil Nadu’s share to fight COVID-19, K Shanmugam said that this amount is a part of the Rs 15,000 crore allocation announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to fight against the pandemic.