CHENNAI: City corporation officials have intensified testing in zones with high COVID-19 viral loads, taking swab samples of even asymptomatic residents in high-risk areas.
On Saturday morning, residents of Selliamman Nagar extension were approached by corporation staff and asked to get their swab samples drawn at the mobile sample collection centre that was brought to their street.
"All residents were called for testing, irrespective of whether they have (ILI) symptoms or not. Almost all of us went and got tested," said a resident.
A local corporation official told The New Indian Express that they were trying to get as many people as possible tested because the area had previously reported a large number of cases.
"There were several cases in this area, especially in streets like Muniappa Nagar. We have a list of areas that will be covered today and the remaining areas across the whole zone (Valasaravakkam) will be covered in the coming days," said a corporation official.
The official added that they will not force anyone, as long as they are asymptomatic, to get tested although they would recommend it for the residents’ own benefit.
Similarly, a corporation official in Kodambakkam zone, another zone that continues to record a high number of cases, said that the exercise aims to catch any stray cases of COVID-19.
"Apart from clusters, we don’t want to let any stray cases, including those among asymptomatic shop vendors and others who have the potential to spread to more people, go undetected,” the official said.
“So we bring out mobile sample collection units and ask residents to get tested. This is being done in all zones where high number of cases are reported -- Anna Nagar, Kodambakkam, Valasaravakkam, Adyar and so on,” he added.
Usually, those who report ILI symptoms during the door-to-door survey are tested for COVID-19, apart from asymptomatic individuals with the potential to spread to a large number of people, like street vendors and traders in markets, who are tested regularly.
When contacted, a senior corporation official said that the strategy was to test more people in places where high number of cases are reported.
“This is done so that infected persons can be identified quickly and isolated so that the spread can be controlled,” the official said.
However, the official said that testing is not compulsory for asymptomatic individuals and is only mandatory for contacts and symptomatic people.