1. Chennai Corporation to Test 40,000 Samples by 3 May
With 211 COVID-19 cases in the city limits as on Tuesday, the Chennai Corporation plans to go in for widespread testing, collecting over 40,000 samples by the time the extended lockdown ends on 3 May. “As many as 10,000 samples will be taken from residents of 80 containment zones where positive cases have been reported,” said Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash.
“A total of 30,000 samples will be taken from residents of areas where positive cases have not been reported. This sample size of 40,000 is 0.5% of the city's population. The sample strength is good and it will give good results in terms of finding trends,” he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
2. Govt Allows Fishing, But Not Direct Sale to Consumers
Though fishermen using traditional craft and motorised boats have been allowed to fish during the lockdown, selling directly to consumers has not been allowed. Issues pertaining to sale of fish have created problems in many villages, including in Kasimedu, from where fishers of 14 hamlets operate.
M D Dayalan of Indian Fishermen Association said there were discrepancies in the information passed on to villages and the local officials, which led to villages deciding to not go fishing. “The order by the Central government said that fishing activities could be resumed. If fishermen are to go for fishing just for self consumption, only one or two boats per day would do. They need cash in hand for which they have to sell their catch,” he said.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. ‘God is Testing:’ COVID-19 TN Patient Who Attended Tablighi Jamaat
Abdul Lateef* (name changed), 45, sitting in a COVD-19 special ward in a government hospital in Coimbatore, believes that with love, hope and faith, humanity can overcome this pandemic. He was one of the 1,480 persons from Tamil Nadu who had visited New Delhi for the event organised by Tablighi Jamaat.
The gathering led to a spike in the number of coronavirus cases in India. The Quint spoke to a patient about what the gathering was all about, if there was fault on their part, and how the fake news and discrimination has taken a toll on their everyday lives.
Read the full story here.
4. Villupuram's Missing COVID-19 Patient Traced a Week Later
A week after he was prematurely discharged from a government hospital in Villupuram, a 30-year-old man from Delhi whose second test for COVID-19 turned out to be positive, was traced near Chengalpattu by Villupuram police on Tuesday.
On the night of 7 April, four people were discharged from a government quarantine facility in Villupuram prematurely. Later, when their test results came back positive for COVID-19, the police immediately scrambled to find them. While they were able to find three of the four people who were released ‘by mistake’, the fourth person fell off their radar.
(Source: The News Minute)
5. An App for Chennaiites to Track Everything COVID-Related
Like most of us, Chennai-based Shyam Sundar was also tracking the COVID-19 crisis over the last couple of months. An active Twitter user, the curator and licensee of TEDx NapierBridge was regularly sharing government and media updates on his feed. But when cases started surging in India during mid-March, he decided to take things up a notch. “Many said they found the timely dissemination useful,” says Sundar, adding that it was a friend’s suggestion to get all this information on a single platform. And thus, the COVID19 Help – Chennai app was launched on 30 March.
With over 1,600 active users till date, the easy-to-use app has four tabs. Information tab is where all critical and essential information is available: hospital lists, grocery deliveries, where to get an e-pass for emergency travel, myth busters, symptom checkers, etc.
(Source: The Hindu)
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