: Tamil Nadu Minister Ma Subramanian said the 76 Omicron cases on Friday were an indication of the community spread of the coronavirus strain in the state and that vaccination was the only solution to prevent its spread.

The Minister of Health and Family, speaking to reporters here, said 34 students, including 10 girls, had tested positive for Covid-19 in Chennai and were under treatment at a Covid care center.

“Today we announced 76 new cases of Omicron. This is an indication of the community spread of the virus. The satisfying news we are receiving is that those affected by Omicron have tested negative after four days of treatment. and were released from the hospital after their recovery, “he said.

According to a bulletin, the total number of Omicron cases in Tamil Nadu stands at 120, of which 66 were exited, leaving 52 active cases. Two of the cases were reported in Kerala and Puducherry.

Subramanian said the 34 students were undergoing training for the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) and that after one student was identified as infected with Covid-19, 90 of his primary and secondary contacts were found and tested by officials of the Grand Society of Chennai.

“Of that number, 34 of them have tested positive. Two of the students have been admitted to hospital, while 32 of them are under treatment at the Covid Care Center in Injambakkam. They are staying in ventilated rooms. and are well taken care of by the Greater Chennai Society, ”he said.

Stating that the Delta and Omicron variants of Covid-19 were spreading rapidly, he said getting the vaccine was the only way to fight the pandemic and called on people to receive the vaccines.

“Of the total population, 86 percent received a single dose of vaccination while 58 percent of them also received a second dose. Another 94 people are waiting to receive the second dose,” he said.

On January 2, the 17th edition of the mega immunization camp will take place, he said and called on those who are eligible to receive the immunization to take advantage of it.

To a question, he said that the Chief Minister, Deputy Stalin, would inaugurate the vaccine administration exercise for 15 and 18 year olds at a public school in Porur on January 3. On Monday and from that day on, the health ministry will determine who is eligible to receive the vaccines between the ages of 15 and 18 and administer the vaccine, ”he said.

To another question, he said the Tamil Nadu Health Laboratory had received approval from the Center to perform the genomic sequencing analysis.

“With this, we do not require that the samples be sent to Pune or Bengaluru to get the results. We will be able to report the results from our own lab,” he said.

(Only the title and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)

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