Omicron in TN: 39 samples have S-gene-drop, 12 recovered so far

Of the 39 people, several doctors, staff and their contacts have also tested positive after they contracted the virus from a patient who underwent surgery at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) recently. Ma Subramanian said that all patients were asymptomatic and did not show any major symptoms. So far, a total of 12 people, who were affected with Omicron, have successfully recovered and have been discharged from the hospital, including 7 from Chennai.

Considering the high number of cases of Omicron among those coming from non-risk countries, the State Health Department has announced compulsory quarantine for all international passengers. He stressed that Omicron is expected to have higher transmissibility and Covid appropriate behaviour and vaccination are necessary.

"The 16th mega vaccination drive is being organised in the State on Sunday and 94 lakh people are due for the second dose for vaccines. It is important that these people get vaccinated as prevention against Omicron is important. Currently, 85 per cent have been vaccinated with the first dose and more than 55 per cent of people have been vaccinated with both the doses in the State," he said.

As the Union Health Ministry has decided to deploy multi-disciplinary Central teams to monitor COVID-19 management and vaccination against the same in 10 identified States, including Tamil Nadu, and the central teams will be deployed from Sunday for review. "The State's vaccination status remains 85 per cent against 88 per cent national average and 55 per cent against 60 per cent of the national average.  Tamil Nadu is the fifth State in the country reporting the highest number of Omicron cases across the country," he added.

Health Minister inspected the facilities and beds at the hospital as 2,050 beds, including 1,522 with oxygen facilities and 550 ICU beds have been made ready. He said that actor Vadivelu and two of his contacts are asymptomatic and are recovering well. Their samples reported S-gene-drop and reports have been sent to the National Institute of Virology.