page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu
section_title: March
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in Tamil Nadu / Timeline of events / March
caption_attribution_description: A local artist in collaboration with a police official in Chennai has made a unique 'Corona' helmet to dissuade commuters from coming out.
context_page_description: The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu was reported on 7 March 2020. Tamil Nadu has the second highest number of confirmed cases in India after Maharashtra. All 37 districts of the state are affected by the pandemic, with capital district Chennai being the worst affected. More than half of the confirmed cases are from Chennai, which is also the most populous district of the state. The case fatality rate in the state is among the lowest in the country.
  As per the Health Department, 88% of the patients are asymptomatic while 84% of deaths were among those with co-morbidities. In June, the state saw a surge in deaths with 209 deaths occurring between 11 and 16 June. The initial surge in cases in the state was due to a cluster linked to a Tablighi Jamaat religious congregation event that took place in Delhi, which caused a spike in early April. Another large local cluster in Koyambedu of Chennai was identified in May.
  The state government has responded to the outbreak by following a contact-tracing, testing and surveillance model.
context_section_description: The first case of coronavirus was confirmed on 7 March in a resident from Kanchipuram in Chennai. He had returned from Oman and started developing symptoms including fever and cough. He was isolated in Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. Later, on 10 March, he recovered and tested negative.
  After more than a week without new cases, on 18 March, the second person who had travelled by train from Delhi to Chennai confirmed positive. He did not have any history of foreign travel and was described as a domestic case by the state health minister C. Vijayabaskar.
  On 19 March, a 21-year-old student who returned from Ireland tested positive.
  On 21 March, a further three were confirmed positive - A Chennai man who had travelled from New Zealand and two Thailand nationals in Erode. They were admitted to IRT Hospital in Perundurai in Erode. More than 300 people who had come in contact with the three patients were quarantined.
  On 25 March, the first virus-related death in the state was reported after a 54-year-old man in Madurai died. Five others were infected - four Indonesians and their travel guide from Chennai. The five were in quarantine since 22 March in Salem Medical College.
  On 28 March, a 21-year-old youth who had just returned from a trip to Dublin, Ireland was discharged from the hospital. Two new cases - one each in Kumbakonam and Katpadi were reported. With this, the total number of confirmed cases had reached 40 in the state.
  On 29 March, the state reported eight more cases (four each from Coimbatore and Erode), all of which were linked to the two Thai nationals and their group who had tested positive. The eight included a 10-month-old baby. The total number of confirmed cases reached 50.
  On 30 March, 17 new cases were reported, highest till date in the state - 10 male patients from Erode, all of whom have travelled to Delhi were in contact with the Thailand tourists, 5 in Chennai and 1 each in Karur and Madurai.
  On 31 March, 57 new cases were reported, all with a history of travel predominately to Delhi, bringing the total to 124. It was the highest single day rise till date. 50 of these cases were from Namakkal (18), Tirunelveli (22), Kanyakumari (4) Villupuram (3), Madurai (2) and Thoothukudi (1), all had travel history to Delhi. Officials had discovered that at least 80 out of 124 confirmed cases (79 per cent) in Tamil Nadu were from one cluster as they are direct or indirect contact of the two Thai nationals who had tested positive for on 21 March. The Thai nationals, identified as patients 5 and 6 were part of a large group from countries including Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, etc. who had visited the state for an annual pilgrimage. This group had also attended a 3-day Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Nizamuddin Markaz mosque, New Delhi in early March. It was estimated that more than 1,500 people from the state had participated in this event. Officials also confirmed that the 54-year-old patient who had died the previous week had also participated in the gathering.  Of 1,500 people who were in the gathering, 1,130 had returned to the state. The government had identified and isolated 515 of the 1,130 people. It faced difficulty while trying to map the rest. It had urged people who attended the gathering to step forward and get tested. Following this, the Nizamuddin Markaz emerged as a new virus hotspot.
caption: A police official in Chennai wearing a unique 'Corona' helmet to dissuade commuters from venturing out during the lockdown.
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