Chennai district collector R Seethalakshmi has been confirmed to have contracted to the COVID-19 viral infection on Tuesday, becoming the third district collector in Tamil Nadu to test positive for the pandemic. 

According to the reports, the collector has been getting treated under isolation at a hospital in the city and the staff members who come in close contact with the collector and attached to the collectorate have been advised to get tested for COVID-19 if they reported to have developed positive symptoms.

Seethalakshmi is the third collector in the state as earlier Coimbatore collector Rajamani and Kancheepuram collector Ponniah had tested positive for the viral infection amid the containment measures. The reports stated that the source of infection of the Chennai collector is yet to ascertained and it is expected that the collectorate would be disinfected. 

The sequel of the rapid spread has been making the top authorities of the government's mechanism, pouring disturbing developments. So far, 18 sitting MLAs of both ruling ADMK and opposition DMK parties, including four senior ministers, spelled positive for the pandemic. 

One of the affected legislators J Anbalagan (DMK) had succumbed to the viral infection on June 10, becoming the first MLA in the state to die due to the pandemic while other lawmakers have either recovered or getting treated in the hospitals. 

As of Monday, Tamil Nadu has reported 2,20,716 cases so far of which 54,896 are active, 1,62,249 have been recovered, and 3,571 had succumbed to the virus.