Tamil Nadu: Health Minister Urges Hotels To Not Organise Parties On New Year's Eve In A Bid To Curb Omicron Spread

The health minister urged people to celebrate this new year at their homes. He warned that the police and local authorities will have a tight watch on the people, hotels and the resorts

New Delhi: In a bid to prevent the spread of Covid cases in the state, the Tamil Nadu Health & Family Welfare Minister Ma Subramanian asked the hotels and reports to keep the party halls shut and to not organise the parties on New Year's eve. He cleared that this step might avoid crowd gathering and thereby prevent the spread of Covid.

According to an Indian Express report, the health minister urged people to celebrate the new year at their homes in their family's company. He warned that the police and local authorities will have a tight watch on the people, hotels and the resorts. There will be stern action taken against hotels allowing for large gatherings in people.  

Meanwhile, as many as 610 people have tested positive for Covid on Monday. Chennai district topped with 171 cases. The Health Minister said that the state had recently recorded 34 Omicron cases of which five patients are undergoing treatment in the hospitals while the rest of the patients have been discharged.

While expressing his concern over the increase in Covid cases in the state, he urged people to follow the Corona protocols and wear masks & wash hands regularly.

Earlier the DMK government asked the Centre to permit the state to announce the Omicron cases instead of waiting for reports from NIV. Emphasising the importance of having a state-owned laboratory, Subramanian claimed that people testing positive for Covid are being treated and getting discharged even before the reports from NIV are out.

The four-member central team has visited Rajiv Gandhi Government Hospital in Chennai to inspect the Oxygen production unit and storage facility, besides the Omicron ward, reported The Indian Express.