Tamil Nadu has Covid-19, other medication stock for 3 months, don’t panic: Health Secretary

Addressing the media a day after Tamil Nadu saw its highest number of daily Covid-19 cases since the pandemic began, Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan reassured the public about the copious availability of drugs to treat Covid-19 and other ailments in the state. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu witnessed 7,819 cases, which took the active cases to 54,315. 

Urging the public to not panic over the rising cases, the Health Secretary said that the state has been witnessing a low death rate of 1.35%. He reassured the public about the state’s robust healthcare system and the availability of beds right from Public health centres to secondary care hospitals among others. 

“In cities like Chennai and Coimbatore more and more people are choosing to get admitted in hospitals, hence there is a difficulty in getting beds. Now we have put in a system for screening patients who can be allocated beds based on the requirement. There are about 50,000 active cases now and the occupancy of beds n Tamil Nadu is around 10 per cent, whereas t is 20 per cent in Chennai city” said Radhakrishnan. 

He also added that the State government has requested the Centre to grant permission to inoculate athletes, differently-abled and shopkeepers, those who are aged below 45. 

Making a mention of the availability of drugs to treat Covid-19 and other ailments, he said that Tamil Nadu had stocks worth Rs.120 cr that would easily last 3 months. Separate teams have been formed to ensure the availability and uninterrupted supply of power, oxygen etc. at hospitals, along with the provision of diesel generators.