Tamil Nadu Reports 161 New COVID-19 Cases, Highest In A Day

There were no fresh deaths on Thursday and currently the tally stands at 27. (Representational)

Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 positivecases continued going north on Thursday, with the state recording century-plus infections for a third straight day, as the capital city continued registering the bulk of patients.

As the second leg of the national lockdown nears its end in another three days, a medical panel constituted by the state government said a complete relaxation of the curbs was not possible and only a graded exit could do.

With Chennai topping the number of new cases of the deadly virus, a top civic official revealed 98 percent of them were asymptomatic, even as the Chennai Corporation wanted all government and privately run school buildings to be handed over to it by May 2 to take up preventive measures.

On Thursday, as many as 161 fresh cases, the highest for a single day so far, were reported from the state, taking the total to 2,323 infections, the Health department said.

Of the new cases, 138 were from Chennai, while 10 other districts reported cases in single digits.

As many as 26 of the 37 districts in the state recorded no new patients today.

A two-month old girl and an 81-year old man, both from the city, were among those who tested positive on Thursday.

A total of 1,258 people have been discharged in the state after treatment, with Chennai topping the table over number of recoveries, a health department bulletin said.

With no fatalities on today, the count from the pandemic stood at 27.

The state had reported 104 cases on April 29 and 121 on April 28.

The department said there were 1,035 active cases under treatment as on today while 1,15,761 samples tested negative.

According to the Greater Chennai Corporation, 65 per cent of cases were from three zones in the city, and a team has been continuously monitoring the containment zones in Chennai.

The team has been involved in ensuring essentials were supplied to the people in containment zones.

Briefing reporters, Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said, "based on our experience at the Corporation and after interaction with medical team on a daily basis, (it is found) nearly 98 per cent of cases were of patients who were asymptomatic".

With the city witnessing sharp spikes in its tally of the virus infected, the civic body approached the city's district administration with a plea to transfer all its schools buildings.

In a letter to District Collector R Seethalakshmi, Prakash said, ''... as per the Disaster Management Act 2005 the District Authority may identify buildings and places which could, in the event of any threatening situation or disaster, be used as relief centres or camps and make arrangements for water supply and sanitation".

"In this regard, it is hereby requested to take over the private and government school buildings for COVID19 related works by May 2," he said.

The expert committee formed by the state government to advise it on tackling COVID19 has said the ongoing lockdown scheduled to end on May 3 cannot be lifted across the state in one go but that only a phased exit was possible.

The expert group held discussions with Chief Minister K Palaniswami on the virus situation in Tamil Nadu, Prabhdeep Kaur from the National Institute of Epidemiology, run by the Indian Council of Medical Research, and a key member of the committee, told reporters.

She also said lifestyle changes with increased focus on personal hygiene would be a key aspect as "this virus is going to be with us for a long time."

Ms Kaur said testing has been increased in the last two weeks and therefore more cases have also been detected.

The distribution of the cases was not equal across the state as there was an increase in some districts while dip in others.

"Therefore the situation is not equal," she said.

On the relaxation of lockdown, she said it "cannot be relaxed in all parts at the same time. The situation is not conducive for complete relaxing," of the curbs.

"But even if the lockdown is lifted, it can be done gradually only," she said and stressed on personal hygiene practices like handwash and using masks in public. There can be no relaxation on curbs against mass gatherings," she added.

Meanwhile, a few upscale hotels in the city have offered their rooms to the state government to accommodate the medical professionals involved in the fight against the dreaded virus.

Doctors and nurses have been accommodated in hotels close to the hospitals they work. The state government has made arrangements for their travel to the work place and back, officials said.

As the four-day total shutdown in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore Corporation limits ended on April 29 night, people came out in large numbers to buy various essential items on Thursday.

To enable people to stock up their essential commodities without any hassle, the government had allowed shops selling groceries and vegetables to function till 5 pm on Thursday, making it clear the transaction hours will revert to the earlier timings of 6 am to 1 pm, in adherence to the lockdown norms.

Several roads in these cities were buzzing with people, many of whom were seen queuing up outside ATMs to withdraw money after a four-day gap.

Besides Chennai, its neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur, had also enforced the four-day total lockdown as part of their fight against the virus.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)