Chennai: Koyambedu Market, in Chennai, is Asia’s biggest fruits and vegetables wholesale market. In a normal scenario, it draws thousands of people every day. It has emerged as the epicentre for COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu. With 527 cases, the State witnessed its highest spike on a single day on Monday with most of the cases linked to the market.
On the day when the government eased the restrictions, allowing standalone and neighbourhood shops to open and relaxed the lockdown, the State witnessed a huge surge, taking the total number of positive cases to 3,550.
Most of the 527 cases, including 377 men, were linked to Koyambedu market, an official bulletin said.
The market has been the contentious area as thousands of people have been thronging the market for buying vegetables, fruits and flowers. After trying in vain to trifurcate the market, officials restricted the market only to the retailers. It closed later after realising the market was emerging as the hotbed.
The market is now likened to the wet market in Wuhan in China, which was the epicentre of COVID-19.
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On Monday, as many as 19 of the 37 districts in the State reported positive cases and Chennai topped them with 266 cases. The coastal Cuddalore district reported 122 cases and its neighbouring Villupuram district 49 cases.
Most of these cases were linked to Koyambedu market, officials said. In Chennai, the number of people tested positive for the virus has risen to 1,721.
Officials have attributed the sudden surge to enhanced testing. In all, 12,863 samples were lifted, and 12,773 people were subjected for testing on Monday. The State has 50 ICMR approved laboratories for testing, including 36 government labs and 14 private labs, officials said.
After discharge of 30 people, the number of active cases stands at 2,107. So far, 1,409 people have been discharged after recovery, reported the bulletin.
A total of 2,662 people, described as suspected cases were kept in isolation wards in government and private hospitals, the bulletin said. The day saw the death of one person, and the death toll stood at 31.
