CHENNAI: Even as most parts of the city are limping back to recovery from COVID-19, officials are worried about the surge in cases in corporation zones like Ambattur.
On July 31, Ambattur had about 1200 active cases while on August 10, it had 1619 active cases -- the highest among corporation zones. Only three corporation zones have active cases above 1000.
While the number of cases in close to ten corporation zones has declined, Ambattur has constantly been recording a growth in cases.
Officials say that five streets in Ambattur -- SRP Kovil Street, South Park Street, Kamarajar Street, Padi Pudhu Nagar Street and Raja Street -- are recording a high number of cases lately.
"One week ago, there were 67 streets with active cases in Ambattur. Now there are 125 streets. More cases are coming from Padi and containment measures are in place,'' an official with the zone said.
Officials said that out of the 125 streets, Padi alone has 30 streets with active cases while Mogappair too has 30 streets. "At this juncture, it is hard to identify the source of infection but all the contacts are being quarantined and tested,'' the official said.
Corporation officials said that Chennai totally has close to 650 streets with active cases now, which is a slight surge from the past few days, when there were just 513 streets.
"The increase in numbers must not worry people as a street is marked active for 14 days, even if there's just one case. So, the numbers may fluctuate daily,'' a health department official from the civic body said.
Despite the surge in cases, fever camps in Ambattur are fewer, compared to some other zones. On Monday, 41 camps were held, while in Teynampet and Kodambakkam, where case growth is relatively low, close to 60 camps were held.
Officials said the camps focus on areas like Padi and Mogappair, with more people in a single camp. "More than 2000 people attend these camps daily, which is higher than most zones. That's why more cases are coming out,'' the official said, adding that there's no need to increase the number of camps.
Meanwhile, the city recorded 986 cases on Tuesday while 1108 people were discharged. Active cases in the city have dropped to just 10.2 percent and are expected to go down further, given the higher number of people getting discharged every day.