Chennai, Aug 2 (IANS): The Tamil Nadu health department has swung into action following a slight increase in the number of fresh Covid cases.

The number of fresh Covid cases continued to increase for the fourth consecutive day on Sunday. However, hotspots like Chennai and Coimbatore showed a fall in the number of new cases.

The state on Sunday recorded 1,990 fresh cases when compared to 1,986 cases on Saturday.

The state health minister Ma Subramanian conducted a review meeting with the health officials, including the state health secretary, J. Radhakrishnan on the increase in Covid cases on Sunday. The minister along with the health secretary inspected the Chennai International airport to check on the measures taken on Covid prevention at the airport terminals.

Health officials have also deployed squads in railway stations and bus stations to conduct a check on the people arriving in the state. The state has also made it mandatory for people reaching Tamil Nadu from Kerala and Maharashtra to have mandatory RT-PCR negative reports taken within 72 hours of the journey. The state will allow passengers from these states if they have taken both the doses of vaccine and the second dose 14 days prior to the arrival to TN.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin also conducted a high-level meeting of the police officers, revenue officials and health officials to tackle the increase in Covid fresh cases. Police will be conducting checks across the state. A strong police force has been deployed on the borders with Karnataka, Andhra, Kerala, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The health department is also creating more awareness among the public on wearing masks, social distancing, and regular use of sanitizer and not to go out of the homes without any specific reason.

The district collectors are being instructed to take stringent action against those violating the Covid standard protocol and to restrict travel without proper reasons.

A task force has been created under the aegis of the district collectors in the districts where the number of cases is increasing. The task force consists of the district police superintendent and district health officer along with other officials. Government has also appealed to all political parties to come together and to create awareness among the people to stay indoors and not to venture out unnecessarily.

State Health Minister Ma Subramanian told IANS, "Government has taken all preventive measures and I am directly monitoring the situation. There is a slight increase and we will not leave any stone unturned to find out the reason behind this slight surge. Health officials are being asked to do micro-level monitoring of the situation. Things are under control and with the cooperation of the people of the state, we are expecting to bring the number of Covid-19 cases down."