As Tamil Nadu gears up for the crucial assembly poll which is just a week ahead, it also has been witnessing the rise of clusters and hotspots of COVID-19 by reporting a sharp spike in the number of cases infected. With the possible grounds of the second wave, the state government has been initiating the measures to contain the spread amid the strong political campaigns unfolded by the political leaders.

Thanjavur district in Tamil Nadu has reported a COVID-19 cluster after 24 students of a private agriculture college have tested positive for the global pandemic in the last two days. According to reports, one student in the college had tested positive after which the district health officials had taken the swab samples from all the students. On Saturday, nine students had confirmed to have contracted the virus and on Sunday, 15 other students had tested positive for the viral infection. 

With 24 students testing positive in the last two days, the district has reported a total of 251 students testing positive so far as of Sunday. The reports say that the agriculture culture was not conducting in-person classes for students and it had conducted practical examinations on the campus for which the students had arrived in-person. It has been reported that the grounds of practical examinations were the reason for the rise of a cluster, pushing the health officials to tackle the wave before it puts many hotspots.

Thanjavur had begun witnessing the cluster in the educational institutions in early March after the students in a government-aided school in the district tested positive for the viral infection. After the development, the district administration had ordered to shut down 11 schools to curb the spread and it has also directed over 2 lakh students in classes 9 to 12 to get RT-PCR tests. The district administration has also set up 14 monitoring teams in the district to enhance the surveillance drive. 

Last week, the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority said that the state has witnessed a rate of increase of the COVID-19 cases at 135% in twelve days as the state had reported 695 cases on March 13 and it had reported 1,636 fresh cases on March 24, the biggest jump in recent times. Taking to Twitter, the state government body had released a graph and appealed the people to wear facemasks, observe social distancing, and get vaccinated for the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Though Tamil Nadu is in election fervor, the rise had cautioned the state and government that the spread would be rampant unless it is effectively dealt with. Recently, Tamil Nadu Health Secretary Radhakrishnan IAS had said that there has been a sign of apathy from people as most of the people are not wearing masks in public places and they are not adhering to the guidelines and protocols. Radhakrishnan further urged the political leaders and members of the political parties to wear masks and follow the guidelines during their campaigns for the forthcoming assembly polls. 

According to the state health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 8,79,473 cases so far as of Sunday including 2,194 fresh cases that were reported on Sunday. Of the total cases, 13,070 are active, 8,53,733 have been discharged, and 12,670 had succumbed to the viral infection. Thanjavur has reported 19,388 COVID-19 cases so far including 108 cases that were reported on Sunday.