CHENNAI; Amid all the gloom over the spike in Covid cases, a glimmer of hope is offered by the fact that the recovery rate has climbed to 60 per cent and active cases are just 39 per cent of the overall figures. Tondiarpet and Royapuram, two of the most-affected zones till recently, now have only 27 and 28 per cent active cases, which means that over 70 per cent have been discharged. Officials here attribute their success to “micro containment” strategies.
“Ever since the lockdown was announced, we have been conducting intensive surveys and fever camps. Swab samples were lifted early, and people were given treatment resulting in fast recovery,’’ a Corporation health official said. Corporation’s data highlights that the fever status of about 6.39 lakh people were checked at 9,790 camps till June 29. From the camps, 26,266 were identified with Influenza-Like Illnesses (ILI), and swab samples were collected from 22,371 for Covid testing.
While an average of 1,000 samples had been collected in other zones, in Tondiarpet and Royapuram together, the number stands at 10,000. Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said that 30,000 people benefitted from the fever camps every day. The testing has been ramped up in the city as it rose from about 5,000 tests a day till June 19 to 8,101 on June 26. However, the positivity rate hovered around 20 per cent, that is well above the 5 per cent mark, which, according to experts, is the rate indicating that the spread is under control.
“It is a good sign many people have been discharged and joined work. Out of the 54,000 odd cases in Chennai, more than 32,000 have recovered,’’ said Prakash. He said that, apart from just medical help given in fever camps, GCC’s initiative of tele-counselling too has helped people. “We have put one counselling centre per zone and have received 2.80 lakh calls till now,’’ said the Commissioner. On the contrary, the death rate in the city has risen to 1.51 percent, from being just around 1 per cent in May.
However, in the last two weeks, unreported deaths in the city were being added to the bulletin, and the process is expected to be over by this week. A total of 888 people have succumbed to the infection in the city so far, while the total number of cases in Chennai is now at 58,327, of which, 34,828 have been discharged. Officials added that an early risk assessment of the vulnerable population would bring down the death rate in the coming days.
1.47 lakh calls
Chennai: The State Covid-19 control room set up at the DMS campus here has received 1.47 lakh calls so far. Health Minister C Vijayabaskar in a press release said the 24X7 control room receives over 2,000 calls per day