AMN
In additional coronavirus diagnostic laboratory has started functioning at Then,Tamil Nadu today. This is in addition to the one that is already operational in Chennai.
The state Health Minister Dr C Vijayabhaskar said, the Centre has been asked to grant permission to establish four more such laboratories whenever such a need arises. He further said, there are also plans to establish quarantine centres on the outskirts of Chennai, Madurai, Coimbatore and Trichy for the disease as a measure of preparedness.
A review meeting on the preventive measures against the virus was held by the state Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy in the Secretariat at Fort St.George in Chennai this morning.
Later, talking to reporters, Health Minister Vijayabhaskar said, the fifteen year old boy who landed at Chennai Airport yesterday from Texas with the symptoms of the disease has tested negative. He said another patient is currently being kept in the isolation ward of the Railway Hospital at Perambur in Chennai.
The 45-year old man who was the first patient to test positive for the virus is now stable and is under constant surveillance at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital in Chennai. Besides, 1088 people who returned from the five most affected countries including China, Italy, Iran, South Korea and Japan have been kept under house surveillance, though they do not show any symptoms of the infection.
Dr Vijayabhaskar said, there is no need to panic about the disease as only imported cases are being reported so far. He asked the public not to believe rumours that are being spread in social media. He also warned that those who indulge in rumour-mongering will be subjected to police action.