CHENNAI: In the single-largest increase yet, 57 people in Tamil Nadu tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. Leading the list was Namakkal with a whopping 24 positive cases. According to officials, all of these people had attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi. Four more persons from the district, who attended the event, are stuck in Delhi and have not returned yet due to the lockdown. “We received a list with names of people who attended the Delhi event. Their blood samples were taken for tests and results on Tuesday confirmed they were positive.
Twenty of them are within the city limits including from Melapalayam, three are from Kalakkad and one from Valliyur,” said District Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish. “We are trying to inspect if there are any more people who visited Delhi, whose names are not in the list.” The Collector announced Melapalayam as an isolated zone.People here have been asked to stay put at their home; essential goods will be delivered to them by the Corporation officials. The police here have been asked to patrol the streets regularly.
18 positive in Namakkal
A total of 18 people from Namakkal tested positive on Tuesday -- 12 in Namakkal, one in Paramathi Velur and five in Rasipuram. “A total of 20 persons from here went for the Delhi event. We tracked them down, quarantined them and performed tests. Of them, 18 have tested positive for the virus,” said District Collector K Megraj. All 18 have been shifted to isolation wards.
Following this, the district administration has banned the entry of people into seven streets in Namakkal, where these 14 people were residing. “About 10,000 people are staying in these streets. Instructions have been given to them not to step out unless necessary,” Namakkal SP Ara Arularasu said. Apart from this, six more persons who participated in the conference at New Delhi were also admitted in government Rasipuram hospital. Six streets where they were living are also cordoned off. Their test results will arrive in the next few days.
Two in Madurai
Two men from Narimedu in Madurai, who attended the event, have tested positive, taking the total number of cases in the district to six. Officials estimate that a total of 28 persons from Madurai could have attended the event. The Centre had sent a list of 28 names, confirmed District Collector TG Vinay.
“By Sunday, 10 of them were traced and isolated. Two of those 10 have tested positive,” said Vinay. However, the duo is asymptomatic as of now. “Of the balance 18, a few have not returned from Delhi. Others are untraceable as their mobile phones have been switched off. We are making efforts to establish contact,” he said.
Three in Villupuram
Three new cases have been reported here, all of them who attended the Delhi event. The area around their residences has been sealed by the police, and public entry restricted. Test results of 13 more persons in isolation wards are awaited. “Health department has taken control of wards 6,7, and 8 in the municipality, from where the three persons hail,” said Minister C Ve Shanmugam.
One person has tested positive in Tiruvannamalai, the first case in the district. He was working in a textile showroom at the Phoenix Mall in Chennai. A 25-year-old woman from Ariyalur, who also works at the mall, tested positive a few days back and it’s suspected that this man could have contracted the disease from his colleague. A native of Vellandhal in Tiruvannamalai, the 28-year-old man returned to his village on March 16 (Monday). He later developed fever, and for three days had a sore throat. Following the symptoms, he was admitted to the isolation treatment ward at Tiruvannamalai Government Medical College Hospital here on March 28 (Saturday), Collector said. (With inputs from Tirunelveli, Namakkal, Madurai, Villupuram, Tiruvannamalai)
Madurai: Attended: 28 Quarantined : 10
Coimbatore: Attended: 82 from Coimbatore, including Pollachi, Mettupalayam, and Anamalai.
Mettupalayam: Attended and home quarantined: 28
Tirupur: Home quarantine: 39
Karur: Quarantined: 30
Nagercoil: Attended: 7
Puducherry : Attended and home quarantined: 17
Thanjavur: Attended: still not known Quarantined: 13 Tiruvarur: Quarantined: 16
Dindigul: Attended: 90
Quarantined: 25
Nagercoil: Attended: 7 Tenkasi: Quarantined: 37
Tenkasi: 8, Chennai: 10
Sivagang: Quarantined: 25
Tiruchy: Attended: 37
Villupuram: Quarantined: 3