CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu reported 33 more Covid-19 positive cases on Wednesday, taking the total number to 1,629, even as the government said there is a steady decline in the percentage of those testing positive.
“There is a 10 percentage point decline from April 7,” said a senior epidemiologist at the Covid-19 control room. On April 7, when the state recorded 621 cases, it announced that nearly 13% of the 5,015 samples it had tested were positive. By Wednesday, 53,072 people had been tested and 3% were found to be infected.
Two things made this happen, said health secretary Beela Rajesh. “First, the lockdown ensured people stay home preventing a rapid spread. Second, the state’s decision to ramp up testing across all districts helped,” she said. In the past two weeks, Tamil Nadu has tested at least 50,000 more samples. “Even if you remove the 5,000 repeat tests we do, we have so far tested 53,072 people in the state,” she said.
Four more media professionals, two staff nurses from government hospitals, a front office staff of a private hospital, and a health worker were among 33 people who tested positive on Wednesday.
Chennai continued to report the maximum number of cases in the state. Of the 33 cases in TN, 15 were from the state capital. Dharmapuri recorded its first case on Wednesday. “Eight other districts recorded a single digit increase. As of now, Krishnagiri is the only district in the state that has not reported any case,” said a senior doctor.
A Chennai-based government doctor and 76 others were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of patients to 662 – 40% of those who tested positive for the viral infection so far.
While in the first week of April, only people with travel history or close contacts of infected patients were screened, the state later expanded testing to cover everyone with influenza- like-illness. “We decided to use RT-PCR kits directly for diagnosis. Since ICMR has said antibody testing kits are only for surveillance, we continued ramping up RT-PCR testing labs and facilities,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar. The state now has 33 testing labs, of which 23 are in the public sector, where all tests are done free of cost.
The emerging clusters among healthcare workers and media professionals increased the number of people queuing up before testing kiosks further. In the last four days, the state has screened more than 23,000 people. “On an average we screen 5,700 people a day,” he said.
The 42-year-old doctor, who was discharged on Wednesday, said he was extremely emotional while he was wheeled out of the isolation unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital by doctors. “I was admitted on April 8. I was breathless and my oxygen saturation was going down. Many of my friends wanted me to move into a private hospital. I decided to stay back here because I was familiar with this place. I am alive because they cared for me,” he said.
The state still has 946 Covid-19 positive patients in various hospitals.
“There is a 10 percentage point decline from April 7,” said a senior epidemiologist at the Covid-19 control room. On April 7, when the state recorded 621 cases, it announced that nearly 13% of the 5,015 samples it had tested were positive. By Wednesday, 53,072 people had been tested and 3% were found to be infected.
Two things made this happen, said health secretary Beela Rajesh. “First, the lockdown ensured people stay home preventing a rapid spread. Second, the state’s decision to ramp up testing across all districts helped,” she said. In the past two weeks, Tamil Nadu has tested at least 50,000 more samples. “Even if you remove the 5,000 repeat tests we do, we have so far tested 53,072 people in the state,” she said.
Four more media professionals, two staff nurses from government hospitals, a front office staff of a private hospital, and a health worker were among 33 people who tested positive on Wednesday.
Chennai continued to report the maximum number of cases in the state. Of the 33 cases in TN, 15 were from the state capital. Dharmapuri recorded its first case on Wednesday. “Eight other districts recorded a single digit increase. As of now, Krishnagiri is the only district in the state that has not reported any case,” said a senior doctor.
A Chennai-based government doctor and 76 others were discharged from hospitals, taking the total number of patients to 662 – 40% of those who tested positive for the viral infection so far.
While in the first week of April, only people with travel history or close contacts of infected patients were screened, the state later expanded testing to cover everyone with influenza- like-illness. “We decided to use RT-PCR kits directly for diagnosis. Since ICMR has said antibody testing kits are only for surveillance, we continued ramping up RT-PCR testing labs and facilities,” said health minister C Vijayabaskar. The state now has 33 testing labs, of which 23 are in the public sector, where all tests are done free of cost.
The emerging clusters among healthcare workers and media professionals increased the number of people queuing up before testing kiosks further. In the last four days, the state has screened more than 23,000 people. “On an average we screen 5,700 people a day,” he said.
The 42-year-old doctor, who was discharged on Wednesday, said he was extremely emotional while he was wheeled out of the isolation unit of the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital by doctors. “I was admitted on April 8. I was breathless and my oxygen saturation was going down. Many of my friends wanted me to move into a private hospital. I decided to stay back here because I was familiar with this place. I am alive because they cared for me,” he said.
The state still has 946 Covid-19 positive patients in various hospitals.
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