AROUND TAMIL NADU

AROUND TAMIL NADU

First Covid-19 death in Kanyakumari

A 65-year-old cancer patient died at Kanyakumari government medical college hospital on Saturday and later his test results returned positive for Covid-19, making him the seventh coronavirus victim in the southern districts. With 14 cases on Monday, the total number Covid-19 cases in the southern region touched 571. Trained Nagercoil Corporation sanitary workers wearing personal protective equipment took the body to the corporation crematorium where the last rites were performed.

It is the first COVID-19 death in the southernmost district. More than 140 people from Kanyakumari who were stranded in Maldives and were brought to Kochi by ship reached the district in buses and were taken to quarantine facilities.

Trichy hospital gets two robots from SASTRA varsity

SASTRA University in Thanjavur has donated two more advanced robots to Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital (MGMGH) in Trichy to aid frontline health workers at the Covid-19 isolation wards. Officials from SASTRA University handed over the two Zafi Go robots to Trichy collector S Sivarasu in the presence of dean Dr K Vanitha on Monday. The robots can carry food, medicines and clothes to Covid-19 patients in the isolation wards at MGMGH. Aimed at reducing the contact between health workers and patients, the robots can carry a load of 15kg. They can serve 10 to 15 patients at one go and have a battery backup of four hours. The robot can be operated through remote control from a distance of 1.5km. A screen fitted on the robot will allow the doctor to interact with the patient.

Pondy government shifts focus to home quarantine

The Puducherry government has shifted its focus on receiving hundreds of people stranded in other parts of the country and abroad. The government has advised people reaching Puducherry to be ‘responsible and disciplined’ and quarantine themselves at home for 14 days. Director (health and family welfare services) S Mohankumar said the health directorate will screen the people and medical teams will visit them periodically. Meanwhile, Karaikal district, Puducherry’s enclave 140km south of headquarters Pondicherry, reported its first Covid-19 case on Sunday. Police said the 37-year-old bus driver, who was arrested for his involvement in a petty crime, was subjected to a medical examination before he was remanded in judicial custody. He tested positive for Covid-19 infection. He was admitted at Karaikal government general hospital for treatment.