Tamil Nadu Health Department to replicate the Chennai model of increased testing, fever camps and more Covid care facilities in Madurai and other districts where coronavirus cases are rising

Chennai’s daily coronavirus figure has come down 53 per cent despite increase in testing.

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu Health Department is keeping a guarded watch on Chennai, state’s coronavirus epicenter, even as its daily COVID-19 figures showed a dip for the fifth consecutive day. As 1,140 people tested positive in the state capital on Monday, the overall fall in daily numbers was 53 per cent. More than 2,000 cases were registered in Chennai between July 29 and June 3.
“Despite increase in tests, Chennai’s daily coronavirus figure has come down to around 1,200 cases. It’s too early for us to comment on the Chennai model, but we will continue to do the aggressive testing and continue to focus on fever camps, market and other congested areas because Chennai has opened up,” Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told NDTV.

However, the temple town of Madurai seems to be emerging as a new Covid hot spot. There has been a six-fold rise in daily COVID-19 numbers in a little over two weeks – from 988 to 6,539 total cases on Monday.

Dr Radhakrishnan added that the congested pockets and urban slums in Madurai along with lack of compliance with regard to masks and physical distancing are posing a challenge in containing the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Kancheepuram, Chengalpattu and Thiruvallur districts adjoining Chennai have also see a spike in coronavirus cases.

Dr Radhakrishnan attributed the spike in cases to inter-district movement even as the government extended suspension of bus services till the end of the month.

The health department said it is rapidly increasing COVID care centres across the state, where 60% of Covid patients are recovering without the need for administering oxygen.

“The Chief Minister has sanctioned another Rs 75 crore for beds with oxygen supply. We are on the safe side as far as infrastructure is concerned,” he said.

The health department added that they are also replicating the Chennai model in these districts by increasing testing to 10 times the number of people found positive and tripling the number of fever camps.

Though Tamil Nadu’s daily testing has increased to 45,000 people, the state does not give a district-wise split of the tests conducted giving rise to speculation that the state had not ramped up testing in districts other than Chennai.

Dr Radhakrishnan dismissed these claims and said such data was not being provided because of manpower shortage in labs. “We have no problem in showing district data,” he said.

With 4,328 people testing positive on July 13, Tamil Nadu’s tally of active cases stood at 48,916 with total rising to 1,42,798. Chennai alone accounts for 16,601 active cases and a total of 78,573 cases.

Vikas Dubey Encounter: Nearly 80 per cent of the 61 FIRs registered against him were filed during the first half of his criminal career which came to a gory end on Friday.

UP gangster Vikas Dubey had 61 FIRs against him, 8 of which were murder cases for killing 15 people

Uttar Pradesh gangster Vikas Dubey killed by police in an encounter faced a total of 61 criminal cases, including eight of murder involving the killing of at least 15 people.

The last murder case registered in UP’s Chaubeypur police station in Kanpur district following the ambush of a police team by his henchmen alone accounts for the killing of eight policemen, besides the seven other cases of murder registered against him between 1992 and 2017, reveals a police history sheet on Vikas Dubey’s offences.

In his three-decade as a criminal, starting in 1990, Vikas Dubey faced nine cases of attempts to murder besides two under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances or NDPS Act, seven under the Gangsters Act, six under the Goonda Act, three under the Arms Act, besides a slew of cases for various other penal offences.

Nearly 80 per cent of the 61 FIRs registered against him were filed during the first half of his criminal career which came to a gory end on Friday.

The first case against Vikas Dubey, a native of Bikru village under Chaubeypur police station in Kanpur, was registered against him in 1990 for causing “grievous hurt” and “provoking breach of peace” by intentional insult, reveal official documents accessed by news agency Press Trust of India.

Vikas Dubey was around 30 years old when he was charged under the National Security Act in 2001. The FIR was lodged at the Shivli police station in Kanpur.

According to the document on Vikas Dubey’s criminal antecedents, 48 of the 61 FIRs were registered between 1990 and 2005 at various police stations in the Kanpur district itself.

Between 2006 and 2020, a total of 12 FIRs (20 per cent) were registered against him with the last three of them registered at the Chaubeypur police station.

The last one was lodged there after the last week’s ambush of a police team by Vikas Dubey’s henchmen, in which eight police officials, including a deputy superintendent of police, were killed.

The second half of Dubey’s life as a criminal saw a seven-year lull from 2008 to 2014 when no FIR was lodged against him until 2017, when he was asked by an executive magistrate to execute a bond under section 110 of the Criminal Procedure Code to vouch for his behaviour.

The first murder case against Vikas Dubey was lodged in 1992 and overall eight FIRs were lodged against him under Indian Penal Code section 302 till date, the second last of which came in 2017. He also had nine cases of attempted murder on his name.

Seven times between 1993 and 2018, he was charged under the Gangsters Act, while he faced charges under the Goonda Act six times between 1997 and 2017.

Vikas Dubey was also charged under the Arms Act thrice respectively in 1993, 2002 and 2017.

He was charged under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act in 1998 and 2006, when a case was lodged against him in Saharanpur. This was for the first time that he was charged outside Kanpur.

The second time he was charged in Lucknow under the Arms Act.

The mastermind of the Kanpur ambush was shot dead early on Friday in an encounter with the police along a highway on the outskirts of the city after he tried to flee from their custody, a day after he was arrested at Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh.

“This is TOOO FUNNY,” wrote Farah Khan while sharing the video.

Farah Khan wants to hug and gag comedian Johnny Lever’s daughter at the same time – the reason being a video that Jamie Lever recently shared on social media. Johnny Lever is one of the most well-known comedians of the Hindi film industry, and his daughter is following in his footsteps. The 32-year-old is already an established presence on social media with thousands of followers, and performs live gigs as a standup comedian. Jamie Lever also shares hilarious spoof videos on Instagram and Facebook, and she recently posted a video mimicking Farah Khan which got a shout-out from the director and choreographer herself.

The video shows Jamie imitating the voice and mannerisms of Farah Khan as she through some of the most well-known numbers choreographed by her – including Sheila Ki Jawani and Fevicol. In the video, the comedian, playing the role of Farah Khan, is seen holding online classes over Zoom for Kareena Kapoor amid the coronavirus pandemic and doing household chores. She fixes a drawer, wipes down a wall and does a lot more – all the while performing signature dance steps from some of her famous songs. 

“This is TOOO FUNNY,” wrote Farah Khan, 55, while sharing the video on Twitter this morning. “You are sooo talented! Want to hug you and gag you at the same time,” she said, adding the hashtag #IHateMyVoice.

Ms Khan’s tweet collected a ton of amused comments.

“Was a laugh riot. She got your voice perfectly,” wrote one Twitter user, while another remarked: “She was too good”.

Jamie Lever’s video has collected over 3.8 lakh views on Facebook since being shared a week ago. The comedian has more than 87,000 followers on the social media platform, along with another 1.2 lakh followers on Instagram.