Amid the statewide restrictions and curfew that have been rolled out to stem the spread of the Coronavirus, the state of Tamil Nadu has, on Wednesday, reported with five new cases in its territory that have put the total number of infected cases to 23 and these cases have come to the account hours after the state has recorded its first fatality, who succumbed to the virus in the wee hours of Wednesday.

State Health Minister Vijayabaskar has issued the conformity of the new cases. Of these five cases, according to the minister, four are Indonesian nationals while the fifth one was the travel guide from Chennai and they have been quarantined since March 22nd and their samples were collected that have now returned with positive for the virus. The Minister further stated that they have tested positive for the pandemic at the Salem Medical college.

#update: 5 news cases of #COVID19 in TN. 4 Indonesian nationals & their travel guide from Chennai test positive at #Salem Medical College. Quarantined since 22.3.20 @MoHFW_INDIA @CMOTamilNadu #vijayabaskar

— Dr C Vijayabaskar (@Vijayabaskarofl) March 25, 2020

The minister stated that as of Wednesday noon, the state has screened 2,09,276 so far and 15,492 people have been under quarantine. The state has tested the samples of 890 people of which 757 negative while 23 were confirmed positive and 110 samples are under process to issue the confirmation. While the state has imposed strict restrictions and lockdown to contain the spread, the numbers of the positive cases have been increasing - particularly in the last two days during which 14 cases were reported with positive for the virus.

On the wee hours of Wednesday, a 54-year-old man from Madurai, who was tested positive for the virus on Monday, had passed away. The deceased man was one of the three cases that were tested positive on Monday and he had been admitted to Rajaji hospital in Madurai. He was reported to have pre-existing ailments including Diabetes and Hypertension. He is the first patient in the state to die due to the virus he wasn't identified to have any travel histories to abroad or states. The Minister stated that the deceased man had come in direct contact with the two Thailand nationals who were tested positive for the virus and getting treated in Erode.

As of Tuesday, the state reported 18 positive cases so far in its territory including six positive cases that were recorded on Tuesday alone and all these six cases are of various age categories and five of them have arrived in the city from foreign countries - the United States, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and Switzerland and these Indonesian nationals join the account and contributed towards adding up the total numbers of infected cases in the state. As of Wednesday noon, Tamil Nadu has reported with 23 positive cases of which one has been recovered and discharged and the other has demised while the rest have been receiving treatments under isolation across the state. 

Also read: COVID-19: Tamil Nadu records its first fatality and the cases climb up to 18!