Tamil Nadu to hold mock drill to check Covid-19 preparedness

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu will hold a mock drill next week following a surge in Covid cases in the state as suggested by the central government to check preparedness of equipment including beds, manpower, drugs, and oxygen of the state on April 10, health minister Ma Subramanian said.
Fresh Covid-19 cases, which were less than 20 a day until a month ago, have increased by nearly ten times. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu registered 242 new cases, which took the active cases tally in the state to 1216. The deaths reported by hospitals on Tuesday and Wednesday have not been added to the state registry. Fresh cases of Covid-19 have increased across Tamil Nadu and people are advised to continue following pandemic protocols such as wearing masks, maintaining social distance, and washing hands frequently with soap and water. “The advisory is still on. We have made it mandatory for everyone to wear a mask on hospital premises because transmission rate and risk of cross infection is high there,” he said. The state, however, has not made masks mandatory in other public spaces such as cinema halls or closed office spaces. “People should follow the advisory instead of waiting for an order making it mandatory,” he said.
Experts have warned that increase in cases can lead to complications and deaths, particularly among the elderly and people with co-morbid conditions. While Chennai reported 82 new cases, Chengalpet had 26, Kanyakumari reported 26, Tiruvallur had 13 and Coimbatore reported 12. Barring Madurai, Theni, Perambalur and Pudukottai all other districts reported new cases. In the second week of March, when the state tested nearly 3,000 people, the test positivity rate number of people tested positive for every 100 people was one.
This week, the test positivity rate has touched four. Chennai, Chengalpet, Tiruvallur, Kanyakumari, Ranipet, Trichy, Coimbatore and Tirunelveli had a daily test positivity above 6.