Banumathi, the elder sister of Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi founder Thol Thirumavalavan, succumbed to coronavirus in a private hospital in Chennai on Wednesday. Banumathi (65), who tested positive for the virus three weeks back, was receiving treatment in SIMS Hospital at Nungambakkam, Chennai. She is survived by three children.
On Tuesday, Thol Thirumavalavan attended the funeral of his sister in Nungambakkam following the coronavirus protocol. Banumathi was admitted to the private hospital since she tested positive for the virus and also had comorbidites including hypertension and diabetes, said sources.
“The source of infection is yet to be ascertained. Banumathi left the house only a few times to buy essentials from a nearby shop. There wasn’t any chance for her to contract the virus," VCK MP from Villupuram constituency, Ravikumar said.
He further told TNM, “The government should act on the issue by understanding the seriousness of the spread of coronavirus. In Chennai, the government is saying that the doubling of cases and the spread has gone down but I am not sure if this is reliable. The government also simultaneously reduced the number of testing in the past one week from 60,000 samples to 55,000 samples.”
“There is a spike in Virudhunagar district and also the mortality rate has gone up. However, we can see the government working to relax the lockdown,” he said.
On the rising coronavirus cases in the country, Thol Thirumavalavan on Monday had said (sarcatically) on Facebook, “We have exceeded America; we have grown into a democracy that wins over another democratic country. We have ranked first on the worldwide one day tally of new numbers of coronavirus cases.”
