CHENNAI: The active cases in Chennai dropped to 11.3 percent on Tuesday after 1143 people were discharged taking total people recovered to 89,969.
So far, 86.4 percent people have recovered in the city and the recovery percentage is only next to Delhi, where 89 percent have recovered.
The total cases in the city is now at 1,04,027 while the toll is 2202, after the city recorded 1023 fresh cases and 23 deaths on Tuesday.
The Seven Corporation zones in the city have active cases of 11 per cent and below, while four zones have active cases in a single digit percentage.
Interestingly, the Manali Zone of Chennai Corporation could soon be the first zone to hit active cases in double digits as currently, it has only 113 active cases (6 per cent). Tondiarpet, Royapuram and
Teynampet have active cases of seven, seven and eight per cent each.
A cause for concern for the city, despite the high discharge rate, is the lack of donors for convalescent plasma therapy, which experts believe is very useful in facilitating recovery.
Dr S Subhash, head of the Blood Transfusion Department at the RGGGH, said that only 60 people have donated plasma in the city so far.
"We do follow up with patients once they discharge but only close to 60 people have donated plasma so far. We expect more people to come forward," he told Express.
It has now been months since the State got the nod for ICMR to conduct trials but donors are lacking.
Former Director of Public Health Dr K Kolandasamy says that plasma therapy is very useful in facilitating recovery and awareness must be increased.
"Most people are drained and tired when they leave the hospital and that could be a reason why there are less donors. Dialogue on awareness during discharge can play a role," he says.
So far, plasma therapy has been administered to 26 patients, and 24 have shown improvement.
Meanwhile in Chennai, only three zones - Ambattur, Anna Nagar, and Kodambakkam - have active cases of more than thousand, and among them, Ambattur has the highest active case load of 22 percent.
Three zones - Royapuram, Anna Nagar, and Kodambakkam - have more than 10,000 people recovered so far.