Tamil Nadu Covid uptick due to students from other states: Minister

In April, IIT-Madras, had turned into a cluster with a total of 237 students turning positive and officials had said then it was due to students returning to campus from various parts of the country.

Chennai: Tamil Nadu’s health minister Ma Subramanian on Wednesday attributed the sudden mushrooming of Covid-19 clusters and spike in the infection in the city as well to the students coming from other states, but asserted that the situation is not alarming.

On Wednesday 139 people tested positive in Tamil Nadu taking the total number of active cases to 629 and no deaths were reported. (Agency)

“In Anna University, IIT (Madras), Sathya Sai (Medical College), there has been an increasing number of cases. The reason is that in several states Covid-19 cases have been increasing such as in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Kerala. When students from these states return to the institutions, the cases spread, ” Subramanian told reporters in the presence of health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

His comments were reported by a few news media organisations as him blaming north India for spreading Covid-19 cases here. UP minister Jitin Prasad and Tamil Nadu BJP president K Annamalai criticised Subramanian but he did not clarify on his remarks.

In April, IIT-Madras, had turned into a cluster with a total of 237 students turning positive and officials had said then it was due to students returning to campus from various parts of the country.

Radhakrishnan on Wednesday sent a circular to all district collectors urging them to be vigilant amidst rising cases. On Wednesday 139 people tested positive in Tamil Nadu taking the total number of active cases to 629 and no deaths were reported. Chennai and adjoining Chengalpattu registered the highest number of new cases with 59 and 58 cases respectively. “The rising cases in Chennai and Chengalpattu need introspection and attention,” Radhakrishnan’s letter read. “Slowly the isolated clusters in Chennai and Chengalpattu which are either institutional or after noticed family functions are recurring with increase in numbers.”