With neighbouring Kerala and four other states in the country seeing a surge in daily Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government on Monday said surveillance in districts bordering Kerala has been intensified and it has been made mandatory for all returnees by flight to compulsorily undergo RT-PCR test.

Expressing concern over non-compliance by people, including those who gather for political rallies, Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan appealed to the people not to lower the guard as five states in India have recorded an increase in cases.

The state health department continues to aggressively test for the virus and is involved in tracing the contacts, as it is determined to further bring down the cases, Health Secretary  said.

Maharashtra, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, apart from Kerala have recorded a surge in daily new cases of COVID-19. The Union Health Ministry had said both Kerala and Maharashtra cumulatively accounted for over 74 percent of India's total active cases.

''Tamil Nadu has a low positivity rate of 0.9 percent per 100 persons and a majority of those who get admitted early with Coronavirus symptoms are treated and discharged.

I appeal to the people not to delay if they have Coronavirus symptoms but undergo test and treatment accordingly.'' ''Late arrival invariably leads to problems,'' the health secretary told reporters here after inaugurating three dialysis rpt dialysis reverse osmosis (RO) plants at the Tamil Nadu government multi-super speciality Hospital, here, that has been sponsored by the RCC Platinum Trust, a non-profit organisation.

On the preventive measures, Radhakrishnan said apart from surveillance camps, thermal screening will be carried out in the border districts and cluster testing will be done in Chennai, Coimbatore and Chengalpattu districts.

All the passengers arriving by flight should have RT-PCR negative certificates. ''Passengers from the UK, Brazil and South Africa will be subjected to TR-PCR test upon arrival,'' he said.

Further, the district health officials have been told to be extra cautious owing to the reporting of dengue cases in few southern districts and also many from Tirunelveli district had Mumbai connection, the official added.

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