Around 4,000 to 5,000 persons were tested in the State every day for COVID-19 in the last 15 days, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian told journalists in Chennai on Sunday. The number of cases were in single digits until Saturday, the Minister said, adding that based on an advisory from the Union Health Ministry, genome testing was done to identify the variant in circulation wherever clusters of two or three cases had been reported. Currently the BF. 7 subvariant of Omicron is in circulation.
In the State, over 96% had been administered the first dose of COVID-19 vaccine and around 92% have got the second dose. Around 90% of the population had developed immunity, the Minister said, pointing out that for the past six or seven months, no deaths due to the infection had been reported in the State.
“We expect the situation to continue,” he said, adding that people to should wear masks and follow COVID-19 protocols in crowded areas.