Tamil Nadu’s positivity rate is down to 3.5% from last month’s 10%, Health Minister C. Vijayabaskar said on Tuesday, even as another 2,435 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in the State.
“COVID-19 cases are on a declining trend. At a time when the positivity rate is 15% and 35% in other parts of the country, Tamil Nadu’s positivity rate is 3.5%, from 4% last week and 10% last month,” he told reporters in Chennai.
Several developing countries are struggling with a second wave of infections, with European countries recording 2.5 lakh cases daily and the U.S. reporting one lakh cases, he said. “Kerala and Delhi have been reporting 5,000-plus cases. We have been registering a declining trend after a peak in July and August,” he added.
It was an achievement for the State to have tested over one crore samples through RT-PCR tests, which is the gold standard for testing, he said. “Even today, it takes three to five days for laboratory results in some developed countries. However, we have reduced the time from the earlier 24 hours to 10 hours now. If a sample is given in the morning, the laboratories provide the results by evening,” he stated. The mortality rate is also declining. From 120 deaths earlier, the number of deaths has reduced to 70, and this has further declined to 30 now. This has been possible due to the efforts of healthcare providers, the Minister said.
Referring to the second wave of infections in many developed countries, he said the festival season and winter in December were challenges for the State.
“Preventing a second wave of infections is in the hands of the people. We can prevent a second wave of infections only if people cooperate. We can bring the number of cases to zero if everyone wears masks, continuously, for three weeks,” he said. The lesson learnt from Europe is that testing and tracing can prevent a second wave of infections, he added.
“Celebrate Deepavali by following public health norms, with self-restrictions. There are chances of industrial, family, workplace and festival clusters,” he added. Public health norms applies to all political parties, protests, meetings, marriages and other functions, he said.
So far, 2.34 crore persons have been screened through fever camps. A total of 4,39,000 fever camps have been held in the State. Till date, 10 lakh persons have been fined and ₹8 crore collected as fine for not wearing masks and adhering to physical distancing norms.
With the fresh cases, the State’s tally rose to 7,31,942. As another 2,707 persons were discharged, the total number of persons discharged so far crossed seven lakh. As many as 7,01,527 have been discharged so far. Another 31 persons (16 in private hospitals and 15 in government facilities) died, taking the toll to 11,214.
Of the new cases, Chennai reported 669, while Coimbatore saw 238. Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur reported 136 and 113 cases respectively. The remaining districts had less than 100 new cases. This included Salem (97), Tiruppur (98) and Kancheepuram (90).
With another 70,398 samples tested, the overall sample count increased to 1,01,69,917.