With a new strain of the novel coronavirus reported in the United Kingdom, the Tamil Nadu government on Saturday instructed all Collectors to remain on guard, though the State has reported no case of the new variant.
During a video-conference held from the Secretariat here, Chief Secretary K. Shanmugam asked the Collectors not to drop their guard while taking steps to contain the spread of COVID-19, an official told The Hindu.
The Health Department has opened a ward with 120 beds at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai for patients suspected to have contracted the new strain and their contacts.
The Collectors were also asked to consolidate their efforts to bring the case fatality rate below 1% and eliminate it ultimately. Since Chennai, Coimbatore, Tiruppur, Salem, Erode and Nagapattinam districts had a positivity rate above 2%, officials were advised to take steps to bring it below 1%. “All districts have been advised to further bring down the absolute number. We also reviewed the rural housing and regularisation of encroachment scheme,” the official said.
Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami would chair a meeting on Monday; thereafter, the government may take a decision whether or not to extend the lockdown beyond the year-end.
