Nearly 91 percent of the students have tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant and the situation is under control, as precautionary measures were put in place, the TN Health Minister said.
Spike in COVID-19 cases in Tamil Nadu is due to students travelling from other states
Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has said that the sudden spike in COVID-19 cases in the city is because of the students who are coming from other states, specially from North India, however, the situation is not alarming.
"Nearly 91 percent of the students have tested positive for the highly transmissible Omicron BA.2 variant and the situation is under control, as precautionary measures were put in place," he said. Meanwhile, the minister has been heavily criticised for his remark on north Indian students being the cause of the spread.
"Ministers from our state in DMK government compete among themselves on a daily basis to show, 'who has got lesser brains among them.' Sadly they are letting Tamil people down by their idiocy!" BJP state chief K Annamalai tweeted.
BJP Minister Jitin Prasada slammed the Health Minister saying "Disease and pandemics do not know any state boundaries or borders as we have all experienced. This is an extremely irresponsible and derogatory statement by the Heath minister of TN, insulting North Indians."
However, TN Health Minister maintained that while his government is taking several steps to lower the COVID-19 cases across the state, other states like New Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and neighbouring Kerala have been witnessing an increase in the infection.
"The cases spread to other students from the hostelers who come from those states seeing increase in the infections. But the Coronavirus cases have remained below 100 since the last 3 months in Tamil Nadu with no fatalities due to COVID-19," Subramanian said.
Read More:
Follow Shiksha.com for latest education news in detail on Exam Results, Dates, Admit Cards, & Schedules, Colleges & Universities news related to Admissions & Courses, Board exams, Scholarships, Careers, Education Events, New education policies & Regulations.
To get in touch with Shiksha news team, please write to us at news@shiksha.com
She has over 10 years of experience in the education and publishing sectors. She specialises in exam coverage and content creation. At Shiksha, she writes, analyses, and presents information for students preparing f
Read Full Bio