1. 138 New Cases in Chennai, 6 Zones in the City Most Impacted
Chennai reported its highest ever single day rise in COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with 138 new cases. With this, the total number of COVID-19 in the city stands at 906. In Tamil Nadu meanwhile the total number of COVID-19 cases recorded on Thursday was 161.
In Chennai, as of Thursday morning, Thiru-Vi-Ka-Nagar (zone 6) had the maximum number of active cases with 135 patients receiving treatment at hospitals. This is followed by Royapuram with 119 active cases, and Teynampet with 61 cases. Tondiarpet has 55 cases, Kodambakkam 42 cases, Valasaravakkam 23 cases, Adyar and Thiruvottiyur 12 active cases each.
The following zones in the city have the least number of COVID-19 cases – Alandur with 3 cases, Perungudi with 2 cases, and Manali and Madhavaram recording one each.
(Source: The News Minute)
2. Shoppers Ignore Government’s Advisory, Throng Markets
Thousands thronged shops, supermarkets and vegetable markets in the city on Thursday despite the government’s appeal to avoid crowding.
Since morning, Villivakkam market saw a steady stream of shoppers. The police had to intervene and regulate the crowd by giving instructions on the public address system, reminding everyone to maintain physical distance while waiting in the queue. A police officer said: “From 6 a.m. onwards, we have been advising people to wear masks and maintain personal distance in the market.”
Despite prohibitory orders being in force, many four-wheelers and two-wheelers were found on the roads in Anna Nagar and Thirumangalam areas. Huge crowds gathered to buy vegetables at Nammalwarpet market.
(Source: The Hindu)
3. 14 Snakes Caught from Thanjavur Hospital Premises
An eight-member team from the Endangered Wildlife and Environment Trust has caught 14 snakes, including six venomous varieties, from the premise of the Government Rajah Mirasdar Hospital in Thanjavur. They handed over all the venomous snakes to the forest department here on Thursday.
The hospital, with separate blocks for obstetrics and gynaecology and ophthalmology, has a vast area of empty land, where a large number of wild plants and bushes are grown. A few patients noticed snakes around the bushes. Based on the information, district collector M Govinda Rao ordered officials to take steps to clean the hospital premises.
The officials engaged a team of eight snake catchers from Endangered Wildlife and Environment Trust.
(Source: The Times of India)
4. Chennai Police Deploy ‘Robocop’ in Containment Area
The city police has introduced a robot cop with multiple functions to handle residents who live in containment areas.
It can be controlled using a remote control and has a mounted camera for surveillance. The machine called Robot Cop LD v5.0 was deployed in Meenambal Puram Street, a containment area in Mylapore. It is a congested area with over 11 COVID-19 cases, police said.
The robot cop has a two-way intercom for direct public announcements and to listen to any communication from the public.
(Source: The Hindu)
5. TN Industries in Green Zones May Restart After Govt Order: CM
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, on Wednesday, told District Collectors that the government would soon issue orders for restarting of industries in the green zones of the state. Further instructions, including the start date, would be decided after the Cabinet meeting that is to be held on 2 May.
CM noted that the Centre had divided the regions based on the number of COVID-19 cases - red, orange and green zones. “Red zone has more number of infected cases. Orange has limited cases and green has no infections,” he explained and added, “District Collectors should take note of this and the district that falls under Green Zone can start resuming industrial activities, one step at a time.”
The central government had allowed cement, sago, sugar, medical equipment and steel mills to operate, he said and added that the District Collectors can allow these industries to restart their operations if they were not located in the banned areas.
(Source: The News Minute)
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