TN Health Min announces 300 isolation wards across State after 1st COVID-19 case confirmed

Amid the ongoing Coronavirus scare in India, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar on Monday informed about creating additional 300 isolation wards in Madurai, Trichy, and Chennai. The State's Health Minister informed about Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami attending a meeting with the department officials and taking the stock of the situation.

"The health department has already procured 10 crore masks but, the Chief Minister had insisted to buy additional as a backup. 300 more new isolation wards will be open in Madurai, Trichy, and Chennai," Vijayabaskar said. 

READ | Tamil Nadu confirms the first case of coronavirus; 1086 put under home surveillance

Talking about the rise in positive cases of the virus, Health Minister Dr Vijayabaskar confirmed one positive case in the state and the patient being stable. "One positive coronavirus case has been reported in the state and he is stable now but is still being monitored in an isolation ward. Another person who was quarantined has tested negative," he said. 

Dr Vijayabaskar also stated that the results of the remaining eight samples will be out soon, and warned the citizens against spreading misinformation or rumours surrounding Coronavirus. According to the state's health ministry, a testing laboratory has been placed in Chennai and another one has been set up in the Theni district.

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Current situation of Coronavirus in India

India has reported at least 43 positive cases of the Coronavirus to date, (3 positive cases from Kerala which are now discharged), out of which 40 are active cases of COVID-19 in the country. 4 (Four) new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since yesterday’s update – 1 from Kerala, 1 from Delhi, 1 from Uttar Pradesh and 1 (One) from Jammu, and 16 people in Rajasthan who were in contact with an Italian couple in Jaipur. India initiated required preparedness and action since January 17 at the field level, while WHO raised the level of global risk to a "very high" on February 20, 2020.

The whole number of people, who were diagnosed with COVID-19, has reached 109,343, including 80,904 people in China. So far, 3,123 people have lost their lives in China alone due to the virus. 

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(With inputs from ANI)