Tamil Nadu To Begin Random Testing To Detect Covid-19 Cases; 90 Per Cent Of All Cases Traced To Tablighi Events

Tamil Nadu will begin random testing to detect Coronavirus (Covid-19) from later this evening (9 April) even as the number of those affected by the pandemic virus increased to 834.

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Beela Rajesh told the media during her daily briefing that 96 more persons tested positive for Covid-19 today (9 April).

Of the 96 cases, 84 were traced to the Tablighi Jamaat Aalami Markaz Nizamuddin congregations in Delhi last month.

Rajesh said the random testing, which would be done as per the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) recommendations, can provide the results in about 30 minutes.

The ICMR has recommended random sampling of people displaying flu-like symptoms but do not have any history of travel to zones affected by the pandemic virus.

Rajesh said 1,480 people who had attended the Nizamuddin congregations in Delhi and returned were tested. Of these, 554 had tested positive for Coronavirus.

This means nearly 37.5 per cent of those who had attended the Tabligh Jamaat events have tested positive for Coronavirus. Another 188 of their contacts were also Covid-19 positive.

On the other hand, those who returned from the Nizamuddin congregations and their contacts make up 90 per cent of the total pandemic cases in the State.

Apart from this, two Thai and four Indonesian Tablighi preachers and at least a dozen of their contacts in Erode and Salem have also tested positive for the pandemic virus.