CHENNAI: Ninety-five percent of COVID-19 patients in Chennai have been discharged as of October 31 while the number of active cases in the city is now just three percent.
Almost all the corporation zones have a discharge rate of 95 percent and above while in Sholinganallur, 97 percent of patients have been discharged.
With the city now recording around 700 cases daily, corporation officials say the figure can go down further if this trend continues.
“Around 12,000 people are being tested every day in the city and the positivity rate too is around 6 percent, which is a good sign,” said an official with the corporation’s public health department.
Experts have said that a positivity rate of five or below indicates that the spread has been contained well.
While the city’s cases and positivity rate have come down, the number of people attending fever camps has come down as well.
On October 30, about 14,463 people attended the fever camp, which is lower than the daily average of about 20,000 people attending the camp in October.
However, so far, about 40 percent of the city’s population have attended the fever camps. In the 65,025 camps held so far, a total of 32,51,196 people have attended.
Among those who attended, the civic body has identified a total of 1,83,868 people with influenza like illnesses and only 28,092 people tested positive out of that.
Corporation officials said that the number of deaths has drastically reduced in Chennai which is a good sign. “There have been days when the city recorded cases in single digits. Early diagnosis from fever camps could be one of the major reasons for that,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the civic body and city police are expected to up the vigil ahead of Deepavali. “People are requested to comply with COVID-19 safety norms during the festive season. That will help in containing the spread,” the official said.
Public health experts too have warned people to be cautious of the virus and not let their guard down. “People must take this virus seriously. Poor masks compliance and lack of distancing may lead to resurgence in the State,” tweeted Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, Deputy Director, Indian Council of Medical Research–National Institute of Epidemiology.