As COVID-19 cases rise in Kerala; Tamil Nadu govt steps up vigilance at border check posts

As India continues to battle against the pandemic, the Tamil Nadu Health Department on Saturday said that it has increased the vigilance on border check posts with Kerala. While stating the reason behind this decision, the Tamil Nadu Health Minister MA Subramanian said that the number of COVID-19 cases in Kerala has gone up. 

COVID-19: Tamil Nadu increases vigilance at Kerala border check posts

Informing that Tamil Nadu has rolled out Pneumococcal conjugate vaccine for infants at Chennai's Egmore Govt Children's Hospital, the state Health Minister said that 7,000 vaccines are available in stock. "We will vaccinate all infants for free at government hospitals," MA Subramanian added. 

COVID-19 situation in Tamil Nadu and Kerala

Tamil Nadu has so far recorded over 25,44,870 positive cases, out of which, 24,86,192 have successfully recovered and 33,862 have died. As per the latest information from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), in the past 24 hours, 1,830 new cases, 2,516 fresh recoveries and 24 new deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in the state is 24,816. As far as the vaccination tally of Tamil Nadu is concerned, over 2,08,04,093 vaccine doses have been administered, out of which, 2,08,04,093 are the first dose and 37,43,499 are second doses. 

Earlier on Thursday, Tamil Nadu Health Ministry had said that the daily number of recoveries in the state have eclipsed new COVID-19 infections with 2,472 patients getting discharged from the hospitals in the last 24 hours. 

Kerala so far has recorded over 32,35,533 positive cases, out of which, 30,83,962 have successfully recovered and 15,871 have died. As per the latest reports from MoHFW, in the past 24 hours, 17,518 new cases, 11,067 fresh recoveries and 132 deaths have been reported. Currently, the total number of active cases in Kerala is 1,35,700. As per the Kerala Health Department, the COVID-19 test positivity rate on Friday surpassed the 13 per cent mark. 

Kerala Health Minister Veena George had said, "Currently, we have 4.5 lakh doses of vaccine. We administer two to 2.5 lakh doses each day, which means the existing dose will be used within two days."

The total number of COVID-19 vaccine doses administered in the state is 1,80,56,262, out of which, 1,26,25,261 is the first dose and 54,31,001 is the second dose. 

(Image: Facebook-@Ma Subramanian, Pixabay, PTI)