Samples of man who died of COVID-19 sent for genome testing: Minister

CHENNAI

Samples taken from the 27-year-old man who died last week of COVID-19 in Tiruchi have been sent for genome testing. When the results arrive in a couple of days, a clear picture will emerge, Health Minister Ma. Subramanian said on Wednesday.

He was speaking on the sidelines of an event to release a report on the ‘socio-economic cost of suicides in Tamil Nadu’ at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras.

The man, who was living in Bengaluru, had visited Goa a few days before falling ill. He had contracted a viral infection and had come to Tiruchi, where he was admitted to a private hospital. In the hospital, he underwent the RT-PCR test for COVID-19 and the result was positive. “He was very ill when he was admitted to the hospital. We have sent the samples for genome testing and will get the results in a couple of days,” he said.

Mr. Subramanian appreciated the Institute’s Centre of Excellence for Road Safety for releasing the report that stated that the overall socio-economic cost of suicide exceeds 81% of the overall health expenditure and takes up 10% of the entire budget. According to the report, each suicide could cost the economy as much as ₹1,29,01,495.

Some of the preventive initiatives the report has suggested are including mental health in the curriculum, a Statewide registry, integrating departments and a targeted action plan and a monitoring surveillance mechanism.

Mr. Subramanian said the report indicated that annually there were 17,000 deaths in road accidents and 18,000 deaths by suicide in the State. The government had initiated schemes to reduce such deaths. Recently the State had banned six pesticides to prevent suicides, he added.

Institute Director V. Kamakoti said the institute analysed each suicide on the campus. “Post-COVID, we notice that there has been a fall in ‘personal touch’ among the students. It is a challenge for us to bring the students out of their hostel rooms and involve them in group activities and social events. They seem to prefer isolation. They should spend two or three hours in a group or social activity for us to be able to identify if they are under stress or depressed,” he said.