NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, SEP 3
Tamil Nadu recorded a marginal rise in fresh COVID-19 infections for the second consecutive day, adding 1,568 cases, including five returnees from Kerala, pushing the overall caseload to 26.19 lakh till date. The fatality count mounted to 34,980, with 19 people succumbing to the virus, a health department bulletin said.
After witnessing a declining trend over the past few weeks, the number of cases have gone up since Thursday.
Meanwhile, recoveries eclipsed new infections with 1,657 people getting discharged in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 25,68,161, leaving 16,370 active cases.
A total of 1,60,742 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 4,27,93,906 till date.
Coimbatore, with 239 cases, Chennai 162, Erode 125 and Thanjavur 108, accounted for the bulk of the cases, while the remaining were scattered across other districts.
Seven districts reported cases below double digits, while there were no fresh deaths in 25 districts. Ramanathapuram and Virudhunagar recorded the least number of cases with three each.
Among the 19 fatalities, one person did not have any pre-existing illness, the bulletin said
Ma Subramanian urges Union Health Minister to expedite Madurai AIIMS
மாண்புமிகு தமிழக முதல்வர் அவர்களின் வழிகாட்டுதலின்படி தமிழகத்தின் மருத்துவ தேவைகள் சம்பந்தமாக சற்றுமுன் டெல்லியில் ஒன்றிய சுகாதாரத்துறை அமைச்சர் மாண்புமிகு Mansukh mandaviya அவர்களை சந்தித்தோம்… pic.twitter.com/SfdZTkl6Us
— Subramanian.Ma (@Subramanian_ma) September 3, 2021
Minister for Medical and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian earlier in the day called on Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandviya in New Delhi along with top officials and discussed various issues pertaining to Tamil Nadu, including allocating vaccines based on the size of the state’s population, expediting construction work to set up the All India Institute of Medical Sciences hospital near Madurai and setting up of 11 medical colleges in the state.
Briefing reporters later, Subramanian said that during the previous meeting with the Union minister in June, the state had requested allocation of more vaccines, based on which the Centre increased supply in June, July and August.
The Minister said Mandviya was also requested to step up vaccine supply to nine districts bordering Kerala as that state had been reporting high number of cases and added that all the residents in these areas would be inoculated.
Subramanian said during the meeting with Mandviya, a request was also made to set up an AIIMS Medical College in Coimbatore, which he said he would consider. Noting that new Primary Health Centres had not been sanctioned to Tamil Nadu in the last three years, Subramanian said, “we reiterated our earlier demand that we need 25 new PHCs in Tamil Nadu”.
To a query about some students and teachers in districts like Ariyalur and Cuddalore having tested positive after schools reopened on September 1, he said they might have contracted the virus earlier.
“They would have contracted the contagion much earlier and then come to the schools without knowing of it. They were identified due to the efforts of health department officials, who will now conduct a probe,” he said.
The Minister said there was no need for anyone to panic and the department was taking all efforts to break the virus chain.
