Updated 31 May 2020 at 14:21 IST
'Tamil Nadu has lowest mortality rate; largest testing in India', says Min K Pandiarajan
Tamil Nadu's Culture Minister, K Pandiarajan revealed that even amid rising COVID cases, the state had one of the lowest mortality rates
While speaking to Republic TV on Arnab Goswami's 'Sunday Debate', Tamil Nadu's Culture Minister, K Pandiarajan revealed that even amid rising COVID cases in the state, the administration had managed to keep the mortality rate to one of the lowest in the country. "As far as Tamil Nadu is concerned, we have the lowest mortality rate when it comes to major states. We have lost about 150 lives but given the size in the number of cases, we almost have 22,000 cases today, our mortality rate is one of the lowest in India," he said.
"This is because of the kind of quarantining preparedness that we have. We now have the facility to institutionally quarantine 1 lakh 50 thousand people. Health infrastructure in Tamil Nadu has really risen up to the occasion. We have done early testing and the largest number of testing in India with over 4.5 lakh tests," he added.
The Tamil Nadu government on Sunday announced the extension of the ongoing lockdown till June 30, even as the Centre issued detailed guidelines for 'Unlock 1' that is removing restrictions in a phased manner. The Tamil Nadu government, however, added that business activities in the non-containment zones will begin. Chief Minister K Palaniswami said Chennai, Kancheepurm, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpet districts having the highest concentration of COVID-19 cases in the state will witness no relief.
Covid-19 in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is among the states worst affected by the coronavirus pandemic. It witnessed the biggest single-day spike of 938 new coronavirus cases on Saturday taking the infection count to 21,184. Four men and two women died on Saturday pushing the death toll to 160. Currently, there are 9,021 active cases and 687 have been discharged on Saturday, while cumulatively 12,000 have recovered. Chennai continues to top the list of virus-infected people in the state with 13,980 positive cases of which 7,321 were discharged following recovery and 6,539 were active. Till date 4,79,155 samples have been tested.
Published By : Ananya Varma
Published On: 31 May 2020 at 14:21 IST