2,000 Mini-clinics to be set up before Dec 15: Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami

Each clinic to have one doctor, one nurse and an assistant.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister K. Palaniswami on Saturday said the government plans to mini-clinics across the state before December 15.

He said the government plans to set up 2,000 mini-clinics in the state with one doctor, one nurse and an assistant.

Addressing the District Collectors through video conference on the steps taken to prevent the spread of coronavirus in the state Palaniswami said a sum of Rs 7,525.71 crore has been spent on coronavirus and related relief measures.

According to him, the per day coronavirus infected persons has come down to about 1,500 now in the state.

The infection rate has come down owing to steps taken by the state like holding about 5.22 lakh fever camps- in which about 2.79 crore people got their check up and about 11.46 lakh persons were detected to have fever- door-to-door temperature monitoring and other preventive measures like distribution of kabasurakudineer (a herbal drink) in Covid-19 infected areas, Palaniswami said.

According to him, a total of 1.18 crore people were administered the RT-PCR tests in the state-the largest number in the country- and daily about 70,000 persons are tested.

About 76 per cent of the RT-PCR tests were done at government labs and even as other states reduced the number of tests done per done, the Tamil Nadu government continues to maintain the number, he said.

Penalising those who violated government instructions also reduced the infection rate.

Palaniswami said a total of 7,77,616 persons were infected with coronavirus in the state and 754,826 persons were cured and 11,109 persons are undergoing treatment in the state while the death rate is 1.5 per cent.

He said when Covid-19 was at peak, the government supplied food to 8,00,000 people daily through Amma Canteen and community kitchens were opened and food was distributed to poor.

The Chief Minister also said three mobile Amma Canteens have been pressed into service to distribute food in areas where there are poor.