Tamil Nadu CM Stalin wears PPE suit, visits COVID wards 'to reassure doctors & patients'

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin visited COVID-19 patients admitted at Coimbatore’s Erode and Tirupur hospital on Sunday. Donning a PPE suit, the CM also inspected the 300 newly set up oxygen beds at the hospital.

The DMK chief tweeted photographs of his visit and said, "I entered the COVID ward against advice to reassure doctors and frontline workers who risk their lives besides patients and their families."

Health Minister Ma Subramanian and Minister for Housing and Urban Development S Muthusamy accompanied the CM for the inspections. After the inspection, Stalin visited Tirupur Government Hospital, where he inaugurated 100 new oxygen beds. The Chief Minister reportedly interacted with the patients and enquired about their health and facilities at the hospital.

Subsequently, he visited Government ESI Medical College and Hospital in Coimbatore to conduct inspections. Stalin also launched 50 car ambulances for COVID-19 patients to be brought to the hospitals immediately. "Besides medicine, the comfort and consolation that others provide will cure the disease," the Chief Minister tweeted.

Coimbatore is the worst affected district in Tamil Nadu with over 3,600 COVID-19 infections reported in the last 24 hours. With neighbouring districts including Tiruppur, Erode and Salem too recording high numbers, Stalin has taken the second review in the region since he took over as chief minister a few weeks ago.

On Saturday, Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang too wore a PPE and visited COVID care centres to instil confidence among health workers and patients. He took stock of the Coronavirus situation in the Himalayan state which in light of a spike in cases and recorded 273 infections on Saturday.

Tamil Nadu's COVID-19 situation

Tamil Nadu on Saturday continued to record COVID-19 recoveries outnumbering the new infections for the second day with 30,016 people contracting the contagion and pushing the overall caseload to 20,39,716. 486 people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours taking the toll to 23,261 till date, the Health Department said. According to a medical bulletin, as many as 31, 759 people have walked out of healthcare facilities aggregating 17,06,298 and leaving 3,10,157 active infections.