NE NEWS SERVICE
CHENNAI, JAN 9
Tamil Nadu’s tally of COVID new infections on Sunday has gone up to 12,895 while 12 succumb to it. Nearly 80-85 percent of the COVID-19 cases reported in Tamil Nadu were people who had ‘S’ gene drop in their samples, indicating contraction of Omicron variant of coronavirus while the remaining 15-20 percent was Delta variant, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian said on Sunday.
Appealing people to get vaccinated to protect themselves from the virus, the minister said it was satisfying to know that there were no fatalities among those who were detected with ‘S’ gene drop indicating they would have contracted the Omicron variant.
Amid the full lockdown put in place on Sunday by the Tamil Nadu government following the spurt in new cases, Ma Subramanian said nearly 90 percent of those affected by Omicron have received both doses of vaccination and were asymptomatic.
Stating that the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) officials have been taking up various steps to contain the spread of COVID-19, he said the civic body penalised organisers of 13 weddings held in the city on Saturday, which saw more than 100 people converging at the venue as against the government mandated cap of 100 attendees.
Ma Subramanian said the GCC has also advised private health care facilities to inform about patients who have been admitted after detection of ‘S’ gene drop in their samples indicating they would have contracted the Omicron variant.
“Though patients receive treatment in private health care facilities, it is the duty of the health department to collect the details of that individual. The GCC penalised six private hospitals yesterday for not informing the civic body about ‘S’ gene drop detection by such hospitals,” he said.
Ma Subramanian said initially the civic body would collect fines from such private hospitals and warned such hospitals would be shut if they continue to do so in future.
Stating that Chief Minister MK Stalin would inaugurate the launch of booster dose to frontline workers and those above 60 years who are eligible to receive their dose on Monday, he said, “Nearly four lakh people are eligible to receive the dose tomorrow… it comprises healthcare workers, frontline workers and people above 60 with co-morbidities…” “These people have received the double dose before April 14, 2021 (as mandated by the government),” he said.
On the vaccination administered to those aged between 15-18 years, the health minister said there were 33.46 lakh people who are eligible to receive the dose and as of Saturday, it crossed 22.50 lakh beneficiaries. “We expect that we will be able to complete 100 per cent vaccination to 15-18 year olds very soon”, he said. Tamil Nadu commenced administering of vaccines to the adolescent age group on January 3.
200 Vellore CMC Hospital staff test positive
200 doctors and staff members tested positive for the infection at Vellore CMC Hospital in Tamil Nadu. The hospital has stopped the admission of patients except in emergency cases.
Earlier this week, the district administration had declared an area near Vellore CMC Hospital a containment zone after a Covid-19 cluster was discovered there.
