Chennai, May 27 (IANS)

District Collectors in Tamil Nadu have commenced enforcing Covid -19 protocol in the respective districts after a slight increase in Covid -19 cases in the state.

The state health secretary, J. Radhakrishnan has in a letter to the district collectors on May 26 said that the steady increase in the Covid -19 cases in Chennai and some other districts of the state is an indirect pointer that immunity levels are waning. He also mentioned that this would lead to people becoming susceptible to variants, sub-variants, and lineages.

The state health department is worried that apart from institutional clusters like that happened in IIT Madras and Anna University, family clusters are also developing in Chennai and adjoining districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur.

The district collectors have directed the local level officers including health officials to be on the alert and to check the infections from spreading. The district administration has also called upon the government and private hospital authorities to conduct checks on people with comorbidities and elderly.

Police have also been directed to conduct regular checks on the use of masks and to ensure stringent action is taken against those who are not wearing masks.

The Tamil Nadu health department in a statement said that as of Thursday, 43 lakh eligible people in the state are yet to take the first dose of Covid -19 vaccine while 1.22 crore people have not taken their second dose of the vaccine.

It is to be noted that 93.74% people of the state have taken their first dose of the vaccine while 82.55% have taken their second dose of vaccine.