Madurai and Virudhunagar districts remain in red zone

02/05/2020, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT,MADURAI BUREAU

Except Madurai and Virudhunagar, the remaining eight districts in south Tamil Nadu moved from red to orange zone giving a relief to health officials, civic and respective Collectors on Friday.

According to the medical bulletin released by the State government, out of 10, only Madurai and Virudhunagar were classified in red zones as on May 1 in southern districts.

Theni district, which accounted for 43 positive patients, has discharged 37 persons so far. The last case reported positive was on April 16.

Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram had less positive cases in the last 10 to 15 days. While only Tirupathur was the hotspot in Sivaganga district, Ramanathapuram suffered a jolt as a few areas including Paramakudi and Kilakarai had to be identified as containment zones. While the total number of positive patients from Ramanathapuram stood at 18, effective management brought in some respite, officials said.

In Madurai, the number of positive cases, which was revolving around 60 till last week, rose up to 75, as on a single day 15 cases were reported. The numbers piled up on May 1 and the tally stood at 87. In Virudhunagar district, the number of positive cases was 32 and effective steps to contain the pandemic started fetching results and the last positive case was reported on April 25. The number of discharged persons was 19 so far.

Though the number of positive patients in Dindigul district touched 81 till date, the number of patients recovered and discharged stood at 71. Tirunelveli, which initially saw a steep rise in the number of positive cases, has 63 cases. Gradually, the number started declining and till date 56 among them have been discharged. In Tenkasi district, the numbers were below 10 in the beginning. Suddenly, the tally went up to 38. The number of discharged cases was 5 till date and the administration had not reported any fresh case after April 25.

The situation appears comfortable in Thoothukudi district where the number of patients admitted was 27. As on May 1, only one patient was under treatment while 25 were discharged. One patient succumbed to the virus. In Kanniyakumari, the number of positive patients stood at 16. Till date, the number of discharged patients stood at 11.

According to a Health Department official in Chennai, the zonal classification of districts were based on hotspot analysis communicated by the Central government. It is multi-factorial and takes various aspects into consideration. Every Monday, the classification of zones would be updated, he added.

Three test positive

Three people, including a house surgeon from Kerala, working at the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) tested positive for COVID-19 here on Friday. This takes the total count of cases to 87.

Two others, included a 65-year-old woman from Jaihindipuram and a 25-year-old pregnant woman from Melur tested positive.

While the contact for one of the patient has been established, the district administration is completing the process of contact tracing for two others. Two other people from Tirumangalam and Melur were discharged from GRH after testing negative for COVID-19.