18 passengers who arrived from overseas test Covid positive: TN minister

: The number of people who tested Covid-19 positive on arrival from overseas to Tamil Nadu till date has increased with 18 passengers from "at-risk" and "non-risk" countries having tested positive for the Delta variant of the contagion and their RTPCR samples have been sent to Bengaluru for genomic sequencing analysis, Tamil Nadu Minister Ma Subramanian said on Saturday.

"All the 18 passengers have tested positive for the Delta variant. Their samples have been sent to inStem (Institute of Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine) Bengaluru for genomic sequencing analysis," the Minister for Health and Family Welfarehe said after inspecting the 14th mass vaccination drive in the city.

According to him, the 18 included nine treated at the coronavirus hospital at Guindy, Chennai, four in Annai Mahatma Gandhi Government Hospital in Tiruchirappalli, two in the Government General Hospital in Nagercoil and one in Bengaluru.

The Health Department principal secretary J Radhakrishnan said 94.15 lakh people were eligible for the second dose of vaccine and that the impact of the Delta variant at the global-level has not reduced, he said. "At the global-level, the impact of the Delta variant of the virus has been high in Russia, Austria, Ukraine, Germany, the United Kingdom; and at the same time Omicron variant has been spreading in over 50 countries. The good news is that the Omicron variant has not been detected in Tamil Nadu," he said.

From the viewpoints of the health experts, the messages to the public are: wear a facial mask, maintain social distancing in public and get vaccinated to prevent the spread of the virus, he said.

People should get vaccinated and follow Covid-19 protocols. If they do, there is a possibility to further reduce the daily infection rate which is currently around 600 cases, he said.

On a lighter vein, he asked upon seeing the health department officials, including the Minister and himself, people tend to wear a facial mask. "Are we coronavirus? No. People should not cheat themselves by wearing a mask only after seeing us. Virus is still prevalent," he said.

On vaccination, Subramanian said 7.54 crore people have received the vaccine till date of which 81.30 per cent received the first dose while 48.95 per cent the second dose. "The number eligible to receive the second dose of the vaccine was 94.15 lakh and we have 95.78 lakh vaccines in stock. The mass vaccination camps have been held targeting those who need the second dose," he said.

During the mass vaccination campaign (till the 13th mega vaccination camp) in Tamil Nadu, 2.43 crore vaccines have been administered to the people, he said.