Tamil Nadu\'s COVID-19 curve rises through weekend

Chennai: Until a week ago, a large number of incoming persons returning to Tamil Nadu, particularly Maharashtra, were adding to its overall burgeoining numbers of persons testing positive for Covid-19 novel coronavirus. But that trend now looks to be tapering off, while new positive cases within the State led by a galloping Chennai is vigorously on.

Of the 1,515 persons who tested positive throughout the state on a single day on Sunday, the number of persons returning from other countries and states who tested positive for the virus is relatively a smaller lot of just 15. Of them only two were from Maharashtra. This has been the trend for the last two days, when returnees from Maharashtra testing positive were just seven and five respectively, indicating that cluster may be petering out.

However, the number of Covid-19 positive cases for Chennai alone continues to soar, with 1,155 confirmed on Sunday alone. Significantly, except for nine of the 37 districts in Tamil Nadu-, namely, Tirupur, Sivagangai, Perambalur, Nilgiris, Namakkal, Nagapattinam, Karur, Kanniyakumari and Erode-, the other 28 districts are again beginning to add to the corona numbers. In fact, today, next to Chennai, Chengalpattu reported the highest number of positive Covid-19 cases at 135, followed by Thiruvallur-55, Kancheepuram-16, Madurai and Thoothukudi- 14 each, Villupuram and Dindigul 11 cases each, Ramnad-nine and Vellore-eight.

The number of positive Covid-19 cases showing small incremental additions in the last few days in the other 28 districts, again may be throwing up a new pattern of the spread of the disease for experts to study. The death toll due to the virus continues to be unrelenting at 269 on Sunday with 18 more deaths confirmed by the Health department just today. The overall state total of Covid-19 positive cases shot up to 31,667 on Sunday.

In Chennai city, even as 35 boys of a children's home in Royapuram have tested positive for coronavirus, the corporation authorities told many shops in the old 'Kothwal Chawdi' market to shut down as part of the steps to prevent the spread of the virus in North Chennai. At the same time, a new and more intensive containment and control strategy at micro-level has begun to unfold in the six high-risk zones of greater Chennai.