Health Minister Ma. Subramanian on Sunday visited the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, where five fresh infections took the total to 60.
He told journalists that just when the number of infections was falling in Chennai district, a new cluster was detected at the institute. What started as one case became a cluster in six days.
“The Health Secretary has been visiting the institute that has students from around 15 States. He has visited the institute thrice with health officials of the Greater Chennai Corporation and inspected the facilities and isolated the students, who are being tested for oxygen saturation levels thrice a day. Of the 7,300 students, 2,015 were tested, and 60 cases emerged. This amounts to a positivity rate of 2.98%,” he said.
The institute has 14 hostels. Whenever a student tests positive, the residents of the entire building are tested, he said. The Health Department is continuously monitoring the students. While 40 students were asymptomatic, 20 exhibited moderate infection and were being treated at the institute. “There is no cause for concern as they are under surveillance. The 20 students with moderate infection are being attended to. The Secretary had underscored the importance of masking up and we found 100% compliance during our visit today. This has also led to a drop in infections to just five fresh cases,” he said.
The institute officials had not only isolated the students but were also serving them food on their doorstep. In fact, the people of Tamil Nadu must follow the IIT’s example in observing the COVID-19 protocol, Mr. Subramanian said.
Vaccination camp
On May 8, a mega vaccination camp would be held at one lakh sites in the State. As many as 1 lakh-1.5 lakh vaccine doses were administered last week, Mr. Subramanian said. On Monday, the Chief Minister would hold a virtual meeting with the Collectors and district health officials from 9 a.m, he said.
