A woman and her six-year-old daughter, who returned from China via Colombo, tested positive for COVID-19 at the Madurai airport in Tamil Nadu, news agency PTI reported on Wednesday, citing a health official.
The duo from Virudhunagar near Madurai had to undergo an RT-PCR test at the airport when they landed on Tuesday and tested positive for the virus.
They have isolated at their home in Virudhunagar, and their samples would be sent to the state lab for whole genomic sequencing.
The state reported 10 COVID-19 positive cases on Tuesday, while the number of active cases stood at 51.
Meanwhile, in view of the surge in the number of cases, the Tamil Nadu government has intensified the screening of all passengers who arrived at the four airports in the state.
On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian, who oversaw a mock drill at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai said the state had a sufficient stock of medicines, beds, equipment and oxygen to tackle any spike in COVID-19 cases.
He said that the state is prepared with six months’ stock of medicine, oxygen, besides beds at all the government and private hospitals across the state.
“Although the average daily requirement for oxygen is about 60-65 MT, with a demand for over 400 MT during peak COVID-19 period, Tamil Nadu has sufficient stock of 1,954 MT oxygen and six months stock of medicine. So, the public need not panic,” the minister said, as quoted by PTI.
COVID-19 cases in India
India recorded 188 new coronavirus infections, while the active cases increased to 3,468, the Union Health Ministry data provided on Wednesday showed. The total cases in the country stood at 4.46 crore (4,46,77,647). The death toll stands at 5,30,696, the data updated at 8 am stated.
While the daily positivity rate was recorded at 0.14 per cent, the weekly positivity stood at 0.18 per cent.