Tamil Nadu records 805 new Covid-19 cases on Monday; employees from private firms test positive

Employees in some of the companies in and around Chennai are now reporting positive for Covid-19.

Nokia Solutions and Networks India shut its Sriperumbudur plant after about 20 of its employees tested positive for the virus. Three of Hyundai’s employees and some employees in the Ambattur Industrial Estate have also been infected, said sources.

“In the first week of our plant operations, three employees showed mild symptoms and were immediately asked to meet the medical team. They subsequently tested positive for Covid-19 and immediate medical attention was provided to them,” Hyundai said in a statement. It had commenced operations at its Irungattukotai plant on May 8.

All the three employees are recovering fast, and as per the safety protocol, essential information was shared with district health authorities, it added. Hyundai also said measures were being taken for contact tracing, self-isolation and complete sanitation.

The company said it has taken elaborate measures to prevent infection spread in its premises for its employees. Employees declaring temperature/cold/cough symptoms are advised to stay home and seek medical guidance. Staff from containment zones are not permitted into the factory, the statement said.

A Nokia spokesperson said that the safety of employees is Nokia’s key priority. “We had been operating at a highly-restricted level for the past few weeks and implemented a suite of measures to limit the risk of infection within our factory in compliance with local regulations and Nokia’s own internal processes. We had promptly suspended operations last week to ensure safety of our staff. We have undertaken further fumigation and sanitisation activities, and hope to resume operations soon.” The spokesperson did not confirm on the number of infected employees.

New cases in TN

Tamil Nadu saw a spike in the number of Covid-19 cases today with 805 persons reporting positive on Monday. This takes the total tally past the 17,000 mark to 17,082. Today’s number includes 93 returnees from other States/countries.

In Chennai alone, 549 people were infected with the virus to take the tally to 11,125. On Monday, 407 patients were discharged. So far, 8,731 people have recovered from the infection. This is 51.11 per cent of the total positive cases in the State. This means, only 8,230 active cases are in the State.

Health Minister C Vijayabaskar told newspersons that 942 returnees to the State tested positive, and of that 726 were from Maharashtra. Research by the Tamil Nadu Health Department shows that 88 per cent of persons tested positive are asymptomatic and 12 per cent patients have shown symptoms, he said.

Seven Covid-19 patients died on Monday to take the death tally to 118 in the State. There are 5,608 suspected individuals in isolation ward admission, according to government data.