CHENNAI: Over 10.42 lakh COVID-19 tests have been conducted in Tamil Nadu and the focus was to cover the population street-wise for early detection and treatment, Health secretary J Radhakrishnan said here on Saturday.
The basic idea of detecting the symptomatic cases through fever camps is to ensure a healthy population by early detection and treatment for COVID-19, he said.
"So, when people step out of their houses after the lockdown is relaxed, they do not emerge as carriers of the virus," Radhakrishnan told reporters after reviewing a fever camp at Tondiarpet.
He said Tamil Nadu has tested over 10.42 lakh samples for COVID-19, after the capacity was ramped up in the State.
Of these tests, 70 per cent of them were done in government facilities, he said.
With aggressive testing continuing to be the focus, 33,675 samples were tested on Friday alone and in total, 10,42,649 specimens have been examined.
Tamil Nadu has 89 testing centres, 47 in government and 42 in private facilities.
"On an average 9,000 to 10,000 tests are being carried out in Chennai per day and 32,500 tests per day in the State from 13,500 in the past. Tests are carried out by personally visiting each household in the districts," he said.
"We are literally chasing the Coronavirus, to reduce the instances of positive cases and COVID-19 related deaths, as well," Radhakrishnan said.
About 9,509 streets out of 39,539 streets in Chennai have been screened and massive efforts are on to complete the exercise in the remaining streets.
"It is not acceptable to compare Chennai with Mumbai. There are slums in 1979 places in Chennai and nil cases have been reported in those areas due to effective screening. A heartening fact is all the people there are wearing masks," the official said, indicating that effective screening and awareness about the virus has helped prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
The government had finalised 11 different treatment protocols and ensured these were in place throughout Tamil Nadu, to reduce the instances of positive cases and COVID-19 related deaths.
The protocol also includes Siddha treatment, especially providing Kabasura kudineer and homeopathy treatment along with allopathic medicines.
Multivitamin and Zinc tablets are also being given to the residents, to enhance their immunity, as a preventive measure, he said.
This combination has helped bring down the cases in worst-hit areas like Kannagi Nagar and Thideer Nagar, he said.
He appealed to the people to shed their fears over contracting coronavirus and added that prevention was an ideal proposition.
"People should shed their fears on the virus. Contracting coronavirus doesn't mean death. Wearing a mask is the only way to prevent the spread of the virus," he said.
Tamil Nadu continued to witness a surge in coronavirus cases with the state on Saturday reporting the highest single day spike of 3,713 cases and 68 fatalities, pushing the infection count to 78,335 and death toll to 1,025.
For the third straight day, the state reported over 3,500 cases.
With the fresh addition, the number of coronavirus cases reached a whopping 10,867 mark and 114 deaths in three days.
The number of recoveries was at 2,737 today, totalling to 44,094 people getting discharged from health care institutions after recovery, a state health department bulletin said.
With the government laying emphasis on ramping up testing of samples, the number tested on Saturday was at 34,805, taking the count to 10,77,454 so far.
Active cases in the state stood at 33,213, the bulletin said.
According to the bulletin, out of the 68 people succumbing to the virus, 45 people died in government run institutions while 23 in private hospitals.
Eight of the deceased were patients without any comorbidities, it said, adding a 29-year-old woman from Madurai was among the victims who died due to acute respiratory distress syndrome.
A 41-year-old cameraman of a television news channel was among those dead.
Chief Minister K Palaniswami, while condoling his death, announced a solatium of Rs 5 lakh to the bereaved family.
Chennai continued to take the top spot in number of positive cases among districts with 1,939 people adding to its tally of 51,699 till date.
Besides, Chennai, Chengalpet (248), Thiruvallur (146), Kancheepuram (98), Vellore (118), Madurai (217) also saw the number of COVID-19 positive cases surging significantly.
Following the surge in coronavirus cases,the government had announced an intense lockdown since June 19 in Chennai, Madurai, parts of Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Thiruvallur districts till June 30 without relaxations that were available previously.
Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said till date, 8,426 fever camps have been held from May 8 in the city in which 5,48,989 people participated.
As many as 20,443 people had flu-like symptoms and 16,845 swab samples were taken and those who tested positive were sent for treatment and such camps continued to be held successfully, he said.
A report from Erode said the department of information and public relations office and the District rural development agency were quarantined on Saturday after a security guard, who tested positive for COVID-19,visited the offices recently.
A Coimbatore report said the Tirupur North Police Station was closed today after the wife of a sub-inspector tested positive.
The woman, also a sub-inspector attached to Chennai, had come to the district on June 24.
The police station was closed on Saturday after she tested positive while her husband's sample returned 'negative'.
The residential quarters where the couple stayed was also closed while civic agency officials sprayed disinfectants as a preventive measure.
