CHENNAI: For the fourth day in a row Tamil Nadu continued to go past the 4000-mark on Sunday, by reporting 4,150 new COVID-19 cases and 60 deaths, taking the tally to 1,11,151 and the death toll to 1,510. For the second day, Chennai reported less than 2,000 cases with 1,713 new cases and 21 deaths.
With the civic body ramping up testing to 11,114 on July 4, Chennai’s positivity rate has considerably fallen to 16.52 per cent. It is important to note that, till June 30, the daily positivity rate for COVID-19 was hovering around 20 per cent, with even a spike on June 12, touching 31 per cent.
Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan said, “Positivity rate is stabilising in the city. People need not worry about the high number of cases.” He attributed the “good results” to the micro-containment activities carried out by the city corporation. “Before the intense lockdown, 9,500 streets had active cases. Now, only 8,402 streets have active cases,” he said.
With Tirupattur being the only district spared of fresh cases on Sunday, Chennai’s neighbouring districts, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur, reported 274, 152 and 209 cases respectively, along with 10 deaths. Madurai district reported 308 fresh cases with five deaths.
Chennai corporation officials closed Vijaya Hospital after 118 staff members there tested positive. The Zone-10 (Kodambakkam) officer, in his public health notice to the managing trustee of the hospital, said, “It is brought to our notice that 118 positive cases were detected and reported among the staff working in Vijaya Hospital and Vijaya Health Centre in Vadapalani, as per the information given by the Medical Superintendent of Vijaya Hospital.”Meanwhile, in a first-of-its-kind initiative in Tamil Nadu, COVID test results of Madurai residents that are tested at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL) in Madurai Medical College can now be viewed online, enabling the public to know their test results without any delay.
Action taken to prevent further spread: Hospital
“In order to prevent further spread of the infection and to ensure safety of the working staff and persons who have been admitted there, various sections of Tamil Nadu Public Health Act, 1939, have been invoked,” said the notice. In his communication letter, B Bharathi Reddy, Managing Trustee and CEO of the Vijaya Group of Hospitals said, “All the inpatients admitted to the Vijaya Hospitals will be transferred to relevant areas in Vijaya Health Centre (VHC). The OP services will be functioning in the VHC for all consultants with alternate day consultation for VHC and VH doctors.” Any emergency case coming to the VHC will be referred to other hospitals, without much inconvenience to the patients.”
Relaxations ahead for chennai, neighbours
With the intense lockdown coming to an end on Sunday, relaxations provided before June 19 will once again come into force in Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu. Shopping malls, religious places in urban areas, travel to tourist places, metro and suburban railway services, educational institutions, inter-state and intra-district public transports will remain prohibited