Days after senior Tamil Nadu minister KP Anbalagan tested positive for COVID-19, another minister P Thangamani has now spelled positive for the pandemic, becoming the tenth legislator in the state and second minister in Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami's cabinet confirmed to have contracted to the virus. 

According to the reports close to the developments, P Thangamani (59) has tested positive for the viral infection on Wednesday- July 8 and he has been admitted to the private hospital in Chennai for further treatment. Thangamani has been one of the ministers observing closest ties with the Chief Minister and he has been serving as the state minister for Electricity, Prohibition, and Excise. 

The news that the minister has tested positive for the virus has broken out moments after he took part in the meeting with Union Minister of Power Raj Kumar Singh that held in the Chief Secretariat on Wednesday. The meeting was also attended by the Chief Minister and senior officials of the state.

On Tuesday, Minister Thangamani has met with Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswami during which Thangamani handed over a cheque of Rs 5 crore to the Chief Minister's Relief Fund for COVID-19 prevention on behalf of Tamil Nadu Electricity Fund and Infrastructure Development Corporation. 

Thangamani has been getting treated under isolation at a private hospital in Chennai. Late last month, Tamil Nadu Higher Education Minister KP Anbalagan has tested positive for the virus and undergoing treatment in MIOT Hospitals in Chennai. Anbalagan has been a part of the panel of five ministers installed to review the COVID-19 relief efforts in Chennai. 

Tamil Nadu has seen ten legislators affected the virus so far of which six belong to the ADMK party including two ministers while the rest four belong to the DMK party. Of these ten MLAs, DMK's J Anbalagan has died due to the viral infection and the rest are under treatment. 

The current developments have shown that the virus has got the grounds of spread in the Chief Secretariat amid the preventive and containment measures. It must be recalled that on Monday, former Tamil Nadu Minister and senior ADMK leader Valarmathi tested positive for the virus and has been getting treated in Chennai. As of Tuesday, Tamil Nadu has reported 1,18,594 cases so far of which 45,839 are active, 71,116 have been recovered, and 1,636 had succumbed to the virus.