Chennai: Tamil Nadu has requested permission from the Union Government to make a mandatory seven-day house isolation for all passengers from abroad entering the country.
After the seventh day, the state wants to make a mandatory RT-PCR test for this passenger so that only those who test negatives can move within the country.
At present, only those who come from 12 high-risk countries experience RT-PCR tests and suggested house isolation.
Only 2% of other passengers from overseas are randomly selected for RT-PCR tests at the airport.
The Minister of Health MA Subramanian said, “Now passengers from non-risk countries such as Nigeria and Congo also test positive, we want to make mandatory home isolation for all international passengers.” They will experience a RT-PCR test after seven days and only if they test negatively, whether they will be allowed to leave their homes.
The state will write to the Government Government seeking permission to implement suggested changes, he said.
According to official data presented by it, more than 14,800 international passengers (12,767 from high-risk countries and 2,101 from other countries) underwent RT-PCR tests in the past two weeks and 70 of them were tested positively.
The state laboratory has detected ‘S-Gene Drop’, an Omicron variant sign, in 28 of these patients.
All 70 samples were sent to the genome sequencing center.
The results of 10 samples are communicated to the country.
Eight found infected with the Delta variant, one was tested positive for Omicron and one categorized as not-in-order, the Minister said.
The local body has begun tracking places visited by the first Omicron patients in Chennai in the past.
As many as 11 people, related to him, have been tested positively.
On Friday, a sample of 259 others from Ramapuram and 59 in Saligramam, both in Chennai, were collected and sent for Lab analysis.
The test results are waiting for, said J Radhakrishnan, state health secretary.
The Minister on Friday launched a government scheme – SMS reminder of vaccination for pregnant women and children – was announced during a recent budget session.
Every year, nearly 20 lakh pregnant women and children receive vaccination against 12 diseases under the Universal Vaccination Program (UIP).
Previously, seven different text messages were sent to these women mentioning the time limit for the vaccine date.
Now, 25 messages will be sent regarding the date of inoculation, government registration and financial assistance during the prenatal and antenatal period, the official release said.