CHENNAI: A total of 345 corporation staff including officials have tested positive for COVID-19 so far, of which around 50 have returned to work, city corporation Commissioner G Prakash told reporters on Thursday. The corporation has a total of around 40,000 staff.
This includes around 120 sanitary workers, of which 10-15 have recovered and the rest are on the road to recovery, he said. The fact that only 120 of the 20,000 odd conservancy staff have been affected by the virus indicates the success of the measures taken by the city corporation, he said.
“They are given disposable masks every day and gloves once a week for which we also get an acknowledgement from them,” he said.
To transport them to their places of work, 95 MTC buses are plying on 49 routes, he added. They are also offered two nutritious meals a day along with Kabasura kudineer to boost their immunity.
He also said that positive cases in slums have come down by 80-90%.
In a day, around 3,500 people with possible symptoms of COVID-19 are being identified in door to door surveys. In addition, fever clinics have been set up where on Wednesday alone, 38,000 people benefited, he said.
Responding to questions on fake epasses, the Commissioner said that the city corporation will not entertain them and those obtaining passes through illegal ways are ‘fooling themselves.’