Covid-19 situation turned grave in Tamil Nadu on Thursday as the State diagnosed 7,987 new patients and registered 29 deaths, which experts like Dr C V Krishnaswamy describing as a ‘tidal wave of pandemic’.

Chennai topped the table of districts with the highest number of new cases on a single day. The Metropolis tested 2,558 new cases of Covid-19 till 6 pm on Thursday. Chengalpet, the neighbouring district that hosts institutions like SRM University and automobile giant Ford tested 685 new cases.

Though the Univesrity is silent about the number of cases in its campus as well as in residential areas, there is total panic in staff quarters as many faculty members  were tested positive.

It is business as usual in Chennai and surrounding districts  with people not wearing masks and public transport system (buses and suburban trains) running to capacity though the   State administration had made it compulsory that passengers/commuters would not be allowed beyond seating capacity.

Most of the shopping arcades, especially textile and jewellery showrooms were operating as usual without any sign of restrictions. “We are sowing wind only to reap whirlwinds,” said a visibly upset Dr Krishnaswamy. He said he was sad and shocked to see the scant disregard by the public as well as the offcials towards the protocol.

Tamil Nadu had almost succeeded in bringing down the number of Covid-19 caes to almost nought but the election and loosening of the controls threw the situation to the winds, said a Government doctor on condition of anonymity. He said complacency after the vaccination too could be counted as a factor for the surge in the Covid cases.

There is a string demand from specialists like Dr Krishnaswamy for the shut down of all educational institutions in districts like Chennai, Chengalpet , Coimbatore and Thiruvallur, the districts with highest number of pandemic cases.