Tamil Nadu Covid news live: Weekly average test positivity below 1% in Chennai

Tamil Nadu chief minister M K Stalin on Sunday urged his Karnataka counterpart B S Yediyurappa not to pursue the Mekedatu project, a day after the latter requested him to not oppose that initiative. Rejecting Karnataka's stand that implementation of this project would not affect the interests of Tamil Nadu farmers, Stalin, in a letter to Yediyurappa, said that this view cannot be agreed upon and listed the reasons for it. (PTI)

Even as the Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu created history by vaccinating almost all the eligible tribal populace of the district, in certain pockets of Coimbatore, the tribes refused to get the vaccine with men even climbing trees and women running to the river to fetch water to avoid the jab. The Tamil Nadu Public health department has already sent SOS to several NGOs in the health sector in the state to create awareness among the tribes to make them comply for vaccination. Sraddha, an NGO based out of Chennai and Coimbatore, has already come out to create awareness among tribes and on the importance of vaccination.

The local handloom industry of Tamil Nadu, traditional 'Kandangi' saree, made from silk threads have suffered great loss due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The life of Madurai weavers, ever since the first lockdown of Covid-19, has been disrupted. Urging the government to take the initial step towards the fulfillment of the weaver's community, and to take them out from the financial crisis, Ramanathan, a weaver said, "Earlier, we used to get sales from foreign and local tourists. But now due to the pandemic, there is no sale. We request the government to help our weaver community."

AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Saturday sought the immediate intervention of chief minister M K Stalin in continuing Dr J Jayalalithaa University with Villupuram as headquarters. The previous AIADMK regime enacted a law in February last to bifurcate Vellore-based Thiruvalluvar University and establish a new varsity in Villupuram named after former chief minister Jayalalithaa. The colleges in Cuddalore, Villupuram and Kallakurichi districts are affiliated to the university under the law. “There are media reports about Thiruvalluvar University’s notification to the colleges of Villupuram, Cuddalore and Kallakurichi districts to apply for admission and affiliation, while there is no announcement from Dr J Jayalalithaa University,” the former CM said.

MDMK leader and MP Vaiko on Sunday called upon the Tamil Nadu government to immediately act on the dam being constructed by the Karnataka government on the Markendeya river and take up the issue with the Centre. Vaiko said that the construction of the dam in the Markendeya river, which is a tributary of the Pennaiyar, would affect the farming community of Krishnagiri district of Tamil Nadu and that around 870 hectares of the farmland would turn barren by this.

A 54-year-old subinspector died on Thursday while in home quarantine in Korattur. Padmanabhan of Kakkalur near Tiruvallur tested Covid-positive last month and was admitted to Omandurar hospital. After discharge on June 19, he was in home quarantine. On June 26, he complained of breathlessness and was admitted to Rajiv Gandhi hospital, where he died without responding to the treatment. He worked at the Korattur police station. As he had kidney problems, he was posted at the Thirunindravur police station on deputation basis. Padmanabhan is survived by his wife Kalyani, 44, and two sons.

It is not just humans who would have to show a Covid-19 negative certificate when entering India via flights. The ministry of finance instructed customs authorities across India to allow import of animals such as cats, lions, leopards and pumas only after they are tested for Covid-19 at the exporting country, when they are to be imported.

The state on Saturday began vaccinations for pregnant women following the Centre’s nod for the drive. “The vaccination drive targeting pregnant women may have commenced for the first time in the country at Pennadam in Cuddalore district,” health minister Ma Subramanian told reporters after the formal launch of the drive on Saturday morning. On reports of shortage of vaccines in Coimbatore and Erode, the minister said the shortage was not limited to just two regions but was prevalent throughout TN two days ago. “Our vaccine quota for June was 42 lakh. We administered the vaccines expeditiously and the Union government gave us an additional five lakh doses. Our quota for July is 71 lakh. There was a delay in supply between June last week and July first week leading to a shortage for two or three days. Now supply has resumed, and we have started dispatching the vaccine to all parts of the state,” he said.

It was pandemonium at the tribal hamlet of Sarkar Porathipathi near Chadivayal on the outskirts of Coimbatore on Friday when health officers arrived to vaccinate residents. Saying they would die if vaccinated, men climbed atop trees and the women folk ran to the nearby river, refusing to listen to the health officers. On Friday morning, medical officer Dr Kanagarani, junior doctor Hariprasadh and nurse Stella from Bouluvampatti primary health centre trekked all the way to the hamlet for the vaccination camp.

A 29-year old man, who took the first shot of Covishield on Friday, allegedly developed complications and was declared dead when he was brought to Government Rajaji Hospital in Madurai on Saturday. D Andrew Simon, a software engineer based in the UK, returned to his native Pudhuvilangudi village in Madurai in August last year and got married three months ago. He took the first shot at Samayanallur PHC along with his wife. Deputy director of health services Dr K V Arjun Kumar said his family alleged that he developed breathing difficulties on Saturday and they heard him grunting when he went to the toilet around 8.30am. He was taken to the superspecialty block of GRH around 10.40am, where he was pronounced brought dead.

Active cases in the Union territory of Puducherry fell to 2,107 with 271 people recovering in the last 24 hours ending at 10am on Saturday. The UT also recorded 147 fresh infections and one death. Puducherry town reported the UT’s lone fatality as a 54-year-old woman died of the infection, taking the death toll to 1,760. The positivity rate of samples (7,708) tested on Saturday stood at 1.9%. Healthcare authorities have so far administered 5.12 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine including the second dose.

For the sixth straight day, Tamil Nadu reported more than 4,000 fresh Covid-19 cases. The state on Saturday recorded 4,103 cases and 115 deaths, including 14 home deaths that occurred in Chennai at the peak of infection in May, when the city faced acute shortage of hospital beds and oxygen. Officials said the numbers were higher in Thanjavur (26) and Chennai (20) districts as they added reconciled deaths. Data in the state’s daily bulletin showed that while some patients died before they went to the hospital, some like a 79-year-old woman from Chennai died after an early discharge. The woman tested positive on May 21, two days after she began exhibiting symptoms. She was admitted to a private hospital and discharged, but was declared dead at her residence on May 21.

As Coimbatore continues to retain its tag of worsthit district in the state, residents are growing desperate for the vaccine. People began queueing up from 9pm on Friday to get a token for vaccination at Rakkipalayam panchayat union middle school. By 7.30am on Saturday, the line had grown to about 800 to 1,000 people hoping to get their hands on 500 tokens. “The line was so long that only people who came before 4.30 am managed to get tokens,” said one of the people in line. Another person in the queue said he previously tried approaching vaccination centres in Thudiyalur, Vellakinar and Narasimanaickenpalayam but failed to procure a token despite turning up at 4.30am. Within corporation limits, people begin lining up from 2.30am to 3am.

The weekly average TPR for June26-July 2 period is 0.99%. In comparison, the weekly average TPR touched a high of 23.2%t for the May 10-16 period, at the height of the second wave. Before that, the weekly average TPR had reached a low of 1.3% in mid-February. However, Greater Chennai Corporation was testing only 10,000-12,000 samples a day then. The number of active cases in the city at that time was 1,623. Currently, GCC tests around 28,000 people every day and the testing numbers have remained constant for more than two months now. The active cases as on July 2 were 2,713, down from 3,611 a week ago.

Tamil Nadu reports 4,013 new Covid-19 cases, 4,724 recoveries, and 115 deaths today.

Tamil Nadu former chief minister and AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam on Saturday condemned the DMK government's attempts to close down Dr J Jayalalithaa University. In a statement issued here Panneerselvam said a law has been passed to set up Dr J Jayalalithaa University by the erstwhile AIADMK government.

Tamil Nadu's minister for water resources Duraimurugan on Saturday said the government will continue to urge the central government to constitute a tribunal to resolve the issue of Karnataka's new dam across Markandeya river.