Tamil Nadu has been witnessing a gradual increase in Covid cases particularly, the cases have been surging in Chennai and its adjacent districts. With a view to curbing the rise of cases, the state health department has been reinforcing the measures and guidelines. 

Tamil Nadu Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan has sent a letter to the District Collectors in which he had instructed them to enforce the Covid protocols in their respective districts after a marginal increase in the number of infected people. The health secretary has said that the rise in Covid cases in Chennai and several other parts of the state indicates that immunity levels are declining. 

He further highlighted that the rise in cases would increase the vulnerability of the people to Covid variants and sub-variants. According to reports, the health department is worried that besides institutional clusters that were formed at IIT Madras and Anna University, several family clusters are also developing in Chennai and its neighbouring districts of Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur. 

Based on the instruction from the state health department, the District Collectors have directed the officials in their districts to stay vigilant and enforce the measures to curb the spreading. The district administration has also urged the government and private hospitals to carry out medical check-ups on people with comorbidities and geriatric people. On the other hand, the police have been directed to ensure that strict action is taken against those who didn't wear masks in public places. 

As per the press release from the health department, Tamil Nadu has reported 55 Covid cases, 41 discharges, and zero deaths on Friday - May 27. Overall, the state had recorded 34,55,154 cases so far as of Friday of which 401 are active, 34,16,728 people have been discharged, and 38,025 had succumbed to the viral infection. 

As of Thursday, around 43 lakh eligible people in the state are yet to take the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine while 1.22 crore people had not taken their second dose. As many as 93.74% of people in the state have received their first vaccine dose while 82.55% have received their second dose. The data has further shown that 3.36 crore children in the age group of 12-14 years and 5.93 crore adolescents in the age group of 15-18 have been inoculated with the first dose as of Thursday.