
Tamil Nadu Coronavirus June 24, 25 Highlights: After holding a discussion with district collectors, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami Wednesday announced that public transportation within zones would remain suspended until June 30 across the state. The decision was taken as a precautionary measure to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The suspension of public transport would limit the number of people moving from one district to another within zones. Palaniswami said officials were facing difficulties in tracing contacts of COVID-19 positive patients who had travelled within zones without an e-pass.
As per the announcement, buses will operate within the districts. Bikes, cars, and private vehicles are not allowed to ply from one district to another. People who wish to travel from one district to another in case of an emergency need to apply for e-pass.
Tamil Nadu reported 2,865 cases Wednesday, of which as many as 1,654 were from Chennai. Of the total, at least 91 patients were those who had returned to the state from other countries and states. This takes the total number of infections across the state to 67,468, including 28,836 active cases and 866 deaths.
Follow Tamil Nadu Coronavirus June 26, 27 Live Updates
Dr. N Balasubramanian, the dean of SRM Medical College Hospital in Trichy has issued a statement, stating that the video of the body of a COVID-19 positive patient being thrown on an open land near Irangalur, which has been circulated over social media is false. The dean stated that the body of the deceased patient had been buried as per protocol issued by the government, with both videos and photographs of the same having been taken by government officials.
"We have informed the issue to the District Collector and Higher Police officials regarding the video to take necessary actions. We request you all to ignore the video", read the statement.
Hari Singh, the owner of the popular Iruttu Kadai halwa store died by suicide in Tirunelveli district on Thursday. He had been admitted to a private hospital at Perumalpuram in Palayamkottai for treatment after developing a fever. Singh later tested positive for COVID-19. Tirunelveli district SP confirmed that Singh had been found dead at the hospital.
Read more
The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has launched a Sidda facility at Dr. Ambedkar Government Arts College in Chennai's Vyasarpadi to treat COVID-19 patients in the city. Twelve Siddha practitioners treat patients through consumption of herbal concoctions like Kabasura Kudineer and Dhanisathi Suranam and techinques like Siddha yoga among others. The centre also has allopathy doctors from Government Stanley Hospital and Medical College to supervise the patients on a 24-hour rotational basis.
The Union government on Thursday informed the Madras High Court that over 17,000 individuals from Tamil Nadu who had been stranded abroad have been repatriated, in reponse to a petition filed by the DMK seeking details of Tamils stranded abroad amid the pandemic. The centre added that Indians abroad had been repatriated through the Vande Bharat Mission and Operation Samudra Sethu, after international travel was banned during the nation-wide lockdown amid the Covid-19 outbreak.
In a bid to combat the novel coronavirus, the Chennai division of Southern Railways has introduced an advanced technique to facilitate contactless access to passengers at railway stations. Automated Ticket Checking and Managing Access (ATMA) is the new system installed at Puratchi Thalaivar Dr. MGR Chennai Central Railway Station.
This new system facilitates contactless verification of tickets, body temperatures, and face masks of passengers entering and exiting the station premises. As per a press release from the Southern Railways, the ATMA system is equipped with a web camera, affixed on the enquiry desk at the entry points. Passengers are directed to show their ticket along with identity proof which is captured by the camera, and the image gets displayed on the monitor for officials to check.
The system is also equipped with thermal scanner-cum-camera that picks up the image and body temperature of the passenger which will be displayed on the monitor. A passenger is allowed to board the train only after getting a green signal on the monitor.
Read more
Royapuram in Chennai continues to have the highest number of cases among the 15 zones in the city with 6837 cases recorded till date.
Here are the top 10 zones in Chennai
A total of 62 flights are expected to fly between Chennai and major cities today. There will be 31 arrivals and 31 departures at the Chennai International Airport.
Tamil Nadu reported a highest single-day spike of 2,865 COVID-19 cases on Wednesday taking the total number of cases to 67,468. As many as 1,654 cases of the total cases were from Chennai. The total number of cases included 91 returnees from other countries and states.
With 33 deaths, the toll rose to 866 in the state. Among the deceased on Wednesday, three had no co-morbidities. A total of 2,424 persons were discharged following treatment taking the recovery count to 37,763. There are still 28,836 active cases in the state.
Read more
On the seven-day lockdown imposed in Madurai Corporation limits and nearby areas like Paravai Town Panchayat, all village Panchayats of Madurai East and Madurai West and Thiruparakunndram block of Madurai district, CM Edappadi announced that all rice drawing ration cardholders in these areas would be provided cash support of Rs. 1,000.
Read more
Good morning!
Welcome to the live blog from Chennai where we bring to you the latest updates on COVID-19, lockdown in Chennai, Thiruvallur, Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Madurai, unlock phase 1 and more across Chennai and Tamil Nadu. Follow the blog to stay up to date with the state in real time.
Tamil Nadu on Wednesday reported highest-ever single-day spike with 2,865 COVID-19 cases taking the total tally of cases to 67,468. As many as 1,654 of the total cases were from Chennai. 33 people succumbed to the infection, taking the death toll to 866. A total of 2,424 persons got discharged on Wednesday and there are still 28,836 active cases in the state.
Tamil Nadu Chief Edappadi K Palanisamy Wednesday said the public transportation between zones is suspended from tomorrow till June 30. After holding the meeting with the district collectors today, CM Palanisami said the busses will be allowed to ply only within districts. He added that the district borders will be sealed and E-Pass is required for emergency travel.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy Chief Minister O Panneerselvam held a meeting with the district collectors through video conferencing today to discuss the COVID-19 situation in the state.
The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Thoothukudi SP to file a status report on the custodial death of the shopkeeper and his son in Sathankulam town. The court which initiated suo moto proceedings to inquire into the case, recorded the statement of Inspector General (South) who said that two sub-inspectors have been suspended and the department has initiated action against head constables in connection with the incident. The bench of justices added that autopsy should be recorded in a video and there shouldn't be any intervention in judicial magistrate inquiry. "Incidents like this shouldn't happen in future Tamil Nadu," the bench observed.
Dr. Prabhdeep Kaur, who is a part of COVID-19 expert committee advising the Tamil Nadu government announced that she has tested negative for the virus.
On June 17, Dr. Kaur had home quarantined herself due to high exposure to the virus. Dr. Kaur tweeted Tuesday that she had tested negative following her 14-day home quarantine while her husband completed his recovery after testing positive for COVID-19.
Dr. Kaur also urged citizens to help healthcare workers providing services during the pandemic by wearing masks and maintaining social distancing to help bring the cases down.
The Greater Chennai Corporation has converted the Kesava Perumal Park slum clearance board tenement in Pulianthope into a COVID-19 care center. The center which is located in Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar (Zone VI) has a 1,400-bed facility alongside medical teams and oxygen supply on all floors. The center was inaugurated by Health Minister C Vijaybaskar who said each block in the building has been allocated to one government medical college in Chennai. The building is monitored 24x7 with the help of CCTV cameras.
RB Udhayakumar, state revenue and disaster management minister today visited the center. Speaking to the reporters, he said due to proactive measures taken by the Tamil Nadu government, the number of cases in Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar (one of the hotspots in the city) have come down in the last few days. “We have taken various measures to stem the tide of new COVID-19 cases. Corporation workers are involved in delivering the necessary items to all the households at their doorstep. In this COVID-19 care center, facilities like hot water, TV, CCTV cameras, Radio, etc are available. The public are co-operating with the government. Our Chief Minister is fighting the battle against the pandemic virus like a soldier. Lockdown in being imposed on districts that fail to adhere to the guidelines and report more positive cases,” he said.
Following a surge in COVID-19 cases in Chennai, the Greater Chennai Corporation will soon open a COVID care centre at TNHB tenement in Ambattur. According to the Corporation Commissioner G Prakash, the centre which will have a capacity of around 5000 beds will be open for treatment by the end of the month.
Further, over 1500 beds will be made available for treating COVID-19 patients in the city at Anna University.
Tamil Nadu Traders Association on Tuesday announced that all the shops across the state will remain closed on Wednesday (today) to protests the custodial death of a shopkeeper and his son in Sathankulam town in Thoothukudi. T.Vellaiyan, the association president said the government should provide compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family.
With the tally in Chennai at 44,205 as of Tuesday, Royapuram continues to have the highest number of cases in the city with 6607 cases recorded till date.
Here are the top 10 zones in Chennai
With the lockdown in Madurai having commenced from today, over 1400 corporation officials in the district will carry out door-to-door surveys for 300 households each, to identify residents with symptoms of COVID-19 and help detect the virus early. Over 100 mobile fever clinics have been set up in each zones to carry out tests, while contact tracing teams have been deployed to collect details of patients and their primary and secondary contacts. Read | Madurai becomes fifth district to go under lockdown : What's allowed, what's not