QChennai: 3 Test Labs for Coronavirus Now; 90 Flights Cancelled

Here is your roundup of the top stories from Chennai.

Tamil Nadu now has three testing facilities for SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19.

(Photo: AP)

1. With New Facility in Tiruvarur, TN Now Has Three Testing Labs

A senior health official said that four additional testing facilities were ready to be operationalised in the state.Photo: Altered by The Quint

With the addition of the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory at Tiruvarur, Tamil Nadu now has three testing facilities for SARS-CoV-2, the virus behind COVID-19. The King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy, has tested a majority of samples till date. The facility at Government Medical College, Theni, is the second.

A senior health official said that four additional testing facilities were ready to be operationalised in the state. “In fact, we can increase our diagnostic facilities to 10,” he said.

(Source: The Hindu)

2. 90 Flights Cancelled at Chennai Airport in 11 Days

Several airlines including Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, Sri Lankan Airlines, Air India, Cathay Pacific, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa and Batik Air had cancelled their flights to different destinations. (Photo courtesy: TNM)

With flight occupancy and passenger traffic decreased drastically owing to the COVID-19 situation, it is now known that 90 flights were cancelled at Chennai airport in the first 11 days of this month.

According to officials of the Airports Authority of India (AAI), several airlines including Singapore Airlines, IndiGo, Sri Lankan Airlines, Air India, Cathay Pacific, Kuwait Airways, Lufthansa and Batik Air had cancelled their flights to different destinations. Dubai, Colombo, Singapore and Kuwait are among the major places to which airlines had cancelled their flights.

(Source: The Hindu)

3. 4 Days After TN Woman Abducted for Inter-Caste Marriage, Police Yet to Rescue Her

It has been four days since 23-year-old J Elamathi, belonging to the Vanniyar caste which is classified as Other Backward Castes in Tamil Nadu, was allegedly kidnapped in Salem by her kin for marrying a Dalit man. Yet little is known about her whereabouts as of Friday, prompting many on social media to pull up the police and ask #WhereIsElamathi.

Elamathi hails from Gurupanayakampalayam near Bhavani in Erode district. On 9 March, she married 25-year-old P Selvan, a Dalit man from Kavunthapadi in the same district. Their self-respect wedding ceremony took place at Kavalandiyur in Kolathur Block in Salem District, officiated by Kavai Eswaran, a member of the Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam (DVK).

(Source: The News Minute)

4. 'No Formalin in TN Fish,' Says Govt Despite Officials in Madurai Finding Chemical in Samples

Fisheries Minister Jayakumar on Thursday declared that fish across the state was safe to consume and that no trace of formalin had been found in market samples. This is despite the Madurai Food Safety department dumping two tonnes of fish from a market last month after samples tested positive for formalin, a chemical which acts like a preservative and constant consumption of which can lead to cancer.

The Minister made this statement at the state assembly on Thursday, when DMK Cheyyur MLA RT Arasu raised the issue of formalin found in fish markets in the state.

(Source: The News Minute)

5. Pachaiyappa’s Suspends Eight Students

Eight students from Pachaiyappa’s College were suspended for assaulting a student of another college. The students have been suspended following a police complaint against them, said principal P Arulmozhiselvan.

Around 20 students had attacked the victim, a student of Presidency College, around 2.15 pm,while he was returning home from college on 6 March. The attack happened near the Nelson Manickam Road bus stop. A group of 10 men gheroed him and snatched his ID. He was assaulted with a knife on the head. The assaulters left him bleeding and escaped on motorcycles. The injured student had filed a police complaint.

(Source: The Hindu)