Tamil Nadu: Six new COVID-19 cases reported in one day as total cases surge to 18

As the coronavirus cases in India are on the rise, positive cases in Tamil Nadu have risen to 18 as six new cases were reported on Tuesday, March 24, with the people having a history of foreign travel, except one.

Two US-returned, one Swiss-returned, one New Zealand-returned and one London-returned person have been found positive among others in Chennai, while a 55-year-old woman from Saidapet area of the city with no history of foreign travel was also tested positive. However, the health department officials are trying to establish if she had any contact with anyone who visited a foreign country recently.

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The first such case was reported from Madurai district on March 23 where a 53-year-old man with no history of foreign travel was found to be COVID-19 positive. Tamil Nadu Health Minister C Vijayabaskar stated that it was the first case of such transmission which has happened within the state. 

Meanwhile, around 5,000 people with various travel histories in recent weeks have been sent into home quarantined and are being monitored by the Tamil Nadu health department. The officials have also posted quarantine stickers outside the residence of people with recent travel history.

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The Chennai police have also booked an engineer for violating home quarantine rules as he ventured out of his house.

The health minister in a press conference on Tuesday warned of strict action against anyone who violates home quarantine guidelines and said that each person who is under home isolation would be monitored by the district authorities.

About 2,09,163 passengers have been screened so far in the state while 15,298 passengers are under home quarantine and 116 have been sent into isolation. A total of 743 samples have been collected in the Tamil Nadu, of which 608 came out as negative and 18 were found to be positive; 117 sample tests are still underway.

(Image source - AP)