The Tamil Nadu government has made the wearing of face masks mandatory again after the state saw a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases. An order by the government states that violations of the mask rule will attract Rs 500 fine. In an order issued on Friday, the Tamil Nadu Health Department said the decision was taken considering the rising COVID-19 cases in the country, especially in Delhi. 

Tamil Nadu on Thursday posted 39 fresh COVID-19 cases, pushing the caseload to 34,53,390 as the state continued to witness an increasing trend. The toll remained 38,025 with zero fatalities being recorded in the last 24 hours, a medical bulletin said. Taking cognizance of the rise in new cases, the government directed the health department to step up testing of samples to around 25,000 a day from the present 18,000 cases. The IIT-Madras campus has reported 30 cases so far, and students have been isolated. 

Noting that adherence to COVID-19 norms in public places is on the wane of late, Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan said the state government is yet to announce relaxation of restrictions. Urging people not to lower their guard, he said the daily cases in New Delhi spiked as of Wednesday and a similar situation may emerge in Tamil Nadu if people show laxity in following COVID-19 appropriate behaviour.

"It has been decided to increase the total number of samples that were tested by the health department per day. It was 16,000 (16,583) yesterday, today it will be 18,000 (18,825).. we have directed department authorities to increase the total number of samples collected per day to 25,000", he said.

"People should understand that the prevalence of the virus decreased in the state during the first, second and third wave of COVID-19 because people followed the COVID-19 behaviour. Now the cases have increased to 39 (across Tamil Nadu) and by following the coronavirus protocols they (public) can prevent its spread," he added.

With agency inputs