No ease in infection rates, TN to tight COVID control measures

Chennai: Following a spike in the number of Covid cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu Health Department is looking forward to implementing stringent measures including wearing masks, social distancing, increasing the volume of tests and holding massive vaccination drives at 15 districts. On Thursday, all these districts reported an increase of up to 54 cases.

The state is presently vamping up vaccination statewide as active and fresh cases in the state continue to drop. This slight increase has the government pushing for stringent measures again.

"As our neighbouring states like Maharashtra and Kerala are showing a slight increase in cases, Tamil Nadu goes for focused disease containment." J Radhakrishnan, State Health Secretary, said.

The state health department has called upon the district administrators of districts including Thanjavur, Madurai, Tiruvannamalai, Kallakurichi, Perambalur, Villupuram, Nilgiris, Sivaganga and Tirupathur, to immediately focus on the areas contributing to the new cases. The focus is presently on workplace intervention strategies of testing, screening and identification of clusters,

"Focus should be on clusters, whether small or big and intensified and focused testing must be conducted. The state can use antigen testing methods also to increase the speed of the results," Suchithra V Menon, an epidemiologist working with a research centre in Chennai said. The state health, police, and revenue departments have also prepped to ensure that Covid protocols are adhered to.