Chennai Hyderabad May 21 Highlights: TN reports 36,184 fresh cases and 467 deaths

Former Labour Minister Nilofer Kafeel has been expelled from AIADMK. In a statement released by party's coordinator O Pannerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami, Nilofer has been charged with acting against party interests. She has been expelled from the primary membership of the party.

Former Labour Minister Nilofer Kafeel has been expelled from #AIADMK for acting against party interests. She was denied a ticket in the recently concluded assembly elections. @IndianExpress pic.twitter.com/GMdeJuma7W

— Janardhan Koushik (@koushiktweets) May 21, 2021

The Tamil Nadu Government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court they are considering a plea seeking extension of Covid-19 cash relief aid to all the transgender persons. Advocate general R Shanmugasundaram made the submission before the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy.

After recording the observation, the court adjourned the plea until Monday.

This comes in the backdrop of a PIL moved by transgender activist Grace Banu who highlighted that most members of her community do not possess a ration card, which needs to be carried to the PDS shops to avail the government aid.

Banu further submitted that due to the outbreak of the pandemic, transgender persons are finding it difficult to make ends meet. The petitioner claimed that there are more than 50,000 transgender persons in the state but the Social Welfare Department claims that only 11,449 transgenders have been identified in a survey they conducted till 2014 and out of the said survey only 2,541 have been provided a ration card.

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The School Education Department, Telangana on May 21 announced the SSC 2021 result. The SSC students can check their results at bse.telangana.gov.in, results.cgg.gov.in. The students can also view their score at manabadi.com. Students can also check the results on the ‘T App Folio’ mobile app.

In case, students are unable to download the the result, then they can contact the control room of the Board of Intermediate Education at TSBIE, Hyderabad on the following numbers: 040-24601010, 040-24732369.

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According to the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), a total of 17,80,217 people in Chennai have been vaccinated till date, with 22,910 people vaccinated on Thursday alone.

The free of cost COVID-19 inoculation drive in Tamil Nadu for beneficiaries in the 18 to 44 age bracket was inaugurated in Tiruppur on Thursday by Chief Minister M K Stalin. The vaccination exercise began at the Netaji Apparel Park which has a 12,000 strong workforce and all eligibile employees would be administered the jabs, an official release said adding Stalin gave away certificates to beneficiaries.

People in the 18-plus age range were the backbone of economy and in the first phase of vaccination for this group, Stalin has ordered vaccinating high-risk category people and industrial workers, the government said.

All efforts were being made to procure as much as 3.5 crore vaccine doses through global bids and 1.5 crore under a system of allocation to states by the Centre for vaccination of those under 45 years of age.

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Another well-known name in actor Kamal Haasan's Makkal Needhi Maiam, C K Kumaravel, quit the party on Thursday, objecting to the "individual" based approach of the MNM. Proprietor of a chain of salons, Kumaravel had earlier also quit the party in 2019, but rejoined it later.

In his resignation letter to the MNM chief, Kumaravel also alleged 'misguidance' by Haasan's political advisors and claimed their focus was on winning only one seat in the April 6 Assembly polls, apparently Coimbatore South constituency from where the former contested unsuccessfully. The party and its leader were well-received earlier and the expectations about it grew, "but today we have lost our chance," he said.

While the party had all the makings to sit in the opposition, it now lacked even a single member, Kumaravel said. "The reason is your political advisors and their misguidance. Their narrow thinking and activities that we can win just in one segment had shattered  people's trust on us and their expectations," he said.

"I want to travel in the path of secular politics, rather than one that is dependent on an individual," Kumaravel said, adding, he was resigning from the primary membership. He also thanked Haasan for the love and affection shown by the party chief. (PTI)

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday declared 'black fungus' or Mucormycois as a notifiable disease after nine people were found to have been infected with it in the state.

"Currently nine people are being treated for the disease, of which six are old cases and three, new ones. Seven of them are diabetic... all are stable," health secretary J Radhakrishnan told reporters in Chennai.

Pointing out that the black fungus was already in existence much before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, he said people with uncontrolled diabetes and consuming steroids and those in Intensive Care Units for a long time were more susceptible to the disease.

The advantage of announcing black fungus as a notifiable disease was that all hospitals would immediately inform the government if they come across such cases, enabling the administration know which place or district was reporting more such numbers, he said.

Radhakrishnan urged people not to panic or believe in rumours in various social media platforms about the disease. (PTI)

Amid rising cases in Tamil Nadu, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has asked doctors to assist it in Covid-19 treatment across the city.

The GCC has requested doctors who are interested in public service to volunteer in tele triaging, field triaging, tele counselling, screening centres and GCC oxygen centres in Chennai. These doctors will be engaged in work for a minimum of three hours per day, and, according to the GCC, they will be provided with a certificate in recognition of services rendered.

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The Madras High Court on Thursday said the result of covid tests conducted on individuals should be declared  'expeditiously' to ensure further spread of the contagion is arrested. The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said there were complaints that some of the test results are being announced on a day-after or several days-after basis.

"It is submitted that if a person finds that he has tested positive four days back, he would have been a super-spreader in the interregnum. Every endeavour should be made by the testing centres in the state to declare the results as expeditiously as possible
so that a person who is afflicted by the virus can immediately quarantine himself if he is asymptomatic and the further spread may be arrested," the bench said.

The court was hearing a case taken up on its own regarding covid management in the state and neighbouring Puducherry. Further, concerns have also been expressed on the "somewhat exorbitant demands made at several crematoria in the state," including Chennai.

"The state government should instruct the local authorities to ensure that there is an element of dignity when the last rites of any person are performed. The several reports of unlawful demands in crematoria must be immediately addressed," they said. The local administration should come down heavily on those responsible and ensure there are checks in place at all the crematoria, the court said. (PTI)

A total of nine people have been diagnosed with mucormycosis, or black fungus, in Tamil Nadu, said Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan on Thursday. He said no person has died because of mucormycosis in the state so far.

Addressing reporters in Chennai, Radhakrishnan said the state has constituted a 10-member mucormycosis committee comprising deans, the Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine (DPH) and doctors from various departments, including ENT, diabetology, microbiology and medicine.

“People need not fear or panic about mucormycosis fungal infection. Don’t believe any rumours. This infection has been prevalent for years. Mucormycosis is being declared a notifiable disease. If doctors diagnose any patient in government or private hospital with this disease, they should immediately notify the director of public health. This is a curable disease. While the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation (TNMSC) has a stock of antifungal medicine (Amphotericin B), an additional order for 5,000 vials has been placed,” he said.

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In the wake of complaints that people are being overcharged for cremation/burials, the Greater Chennai Corporation has introduced helpline numbers to streamline the administration of burial grounds.

Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi on Wednesday set up a real-time monitoring facility at the Rippon building. Officials have been deployed to monitor the burial grounds in real-time and initiate necessary action if any violation is found. The officials will also do a surprise inspection of the burial grounds to prevent the workers from overcharging in any of their corporation burial grounds.

The people can dial 044-25384520 or WhatsApp 9498346900 to register their complaints.

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Tamil Nadu received its 10th consignment of medical oxygen on Thursday by rail from Odisha, amid the COVID-19 surge in the southern state.

An Oxygen Express train carrying 29.24 metric tonnes of Liquid Medical Oxygen (LMO) arrived at Madukkarai Railway station near Chennai from Rourkela in Odisha, a railway division release said.

Tamil Nadu has received 584.45 MT of oxygen, delivered through 11 trains, so far.

So far, the Railways has delivered nearly 12,630 MT of LMO in more than 775 tankers to different states across the country which includes Delhi, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and  Kerala. (PTI)

With a rise in the number of Covid infections and at least 16 districts showing a positivity rate of over 20 per cent, Tamil Nadu is considering extending the lockdown by another week to May 24 and working out a district-level containment plan.

The positivity rate in two districts — Chengalpattu and Theni — is above 30 per cent. The state reported the highest number of fresh cases in the country on Tuesday even as there was a slight decline in the number of new cases this week. One of the senior ministers handling the Covid crisis on the ground said there are two immediate plans before them – to handle the alarming situation in Coimbatore and a strong possibility to extend the lockdown for one more week after May 24.

While the positivity rate was seen increasing steadily in the first and second weeks of May, Chengalpattu district, which is south of Chennai and occupies a part of the Greater Chennai City Corporation reported a 31.5 per cent test positivity rate for 7 days from May 12 to 18. Theni (30.3 per cent), Coimbatore (29.3 per cent), Kanyakumari (27.1 per cent), Thoothukudi (26.7 per cent) were other districts with high positivity rates.

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Telangana's total coronavirus case count soared past 5.44 lakh with 3,660 fresh infections being added on Thrusday while the toll stood at 3,060 after 23 people succumbed to the deadly disease.

Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 574, followed by Rangareddy 247 and Medchal Malkajgiri 218, a government bulletin said.

The state has 45,757 active cases. The total number of cumulative cases in the state stood at 5,44,263 while 4826 were cured in the last 24 hours, pushing the total recoveries to 4,95,446. Cumulatively, over 1.43 crore samples have been tested so far. The samples tested per million population was over 3.85 lakh, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate in the state was 0.56 per cent while the recovery rate in Telangana was 91.03 per cent. (PTI)

A total of 74 flights will be operated between Chennai and major cities today, with 37 arrivals and 37 departures scheduled at the Chennai International Airport.

#AAI #Chennaiairport #Update: Domestic Arrival/Departure schedule for 21.05.2021 @AAI_Official @pibchennai @IndiGo6E@airindiain @flyspicejet @goairlinesindia @FlyTruJet @AirAsiaIndian #WearAMask#Unite2FightCorona #IndiaFightsCOVID19 pic.twitter.com/rRhWrvkNah

— Chennai (MAA) Airport (@aaichnairport) May 20, 2021

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday urged President Ram Nath Kovind to accept the recommendation made by the state government in 2018 and remit the life sentences of the seven Rajiv Gandhi assassination case convicts and direct their immediate release.

The convicts have been undergoing the “agony of imprisonment” for the past about three decades and the state has been demanding their early release, he said.

A majority of political parties have been requesting remission of the remainder of their sentences and their immediate release. “It is also the will of the people of Tamil Nadu,” Stalin said in a letter addressed to Kovind.

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The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday issued an order reducing the price of RT-PCR test conducted in private laboratories in the state to Rs 900 from Rs 1,200.

According to the GO issued by the health department, RT-PCR tests conducted at government laboratories under the Chief Minister's Comprehensive Health Insurance Scheme have been revised to Rs 550 from the existing Rs 800, and for pooled samples it has been fixed at Rs 400 from the current Rs 600.

For private laboratories taking up RT-PCR testing, the revised rate is Rs 900, it said. (PTI)

Tamil Nadu recorded 35,579 positive cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, bringing the state tally to 17,34,804. Among these, Chennai reported 6073 positive cases, bringing the city’s total to 4,62,448. The state recorded 397 deaths on Thursday, putting the state toll at 18,369. 300 of them had succumbed due to comorbidities. A total of 25,368 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 14,52,283.

As of Thursday, the number of active COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is 2,63,390. Till date, 10,33,741 males, 7,01,025 females and 38 transgenders have tested positive for the virus in the state.

According to a bulletin released by the Health and Family Welfare Department of Tamil Nadu, 2,57,75,405 samples from the state have been tested till date, with 1,71,094 samples having been sent yesterday. There are 267 COVID-19 testing facilities in the state, out of which 69 are government and 198 are private facilities.

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Welcome to the live blog from Chennai and Hyderabad where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19 vaccination, COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, politics, civic issues and more across Chennai and Hyderabad throughout the day. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the states in real time.