With no let-up in new COVID-19 cases in districts in the Arcot region, the authorities are battling the outbreak with limited resources and healthcare infrastructure. They have begun to focus on effective interventions in containment zones to prevent further spread of the virus.
Tiruvannamalai district is witnessing a high number of cases as the pandemic has spread its tentacles leaving authorities on their toes.
“We have evolved a strategy for effective management of the containment zones by stepping up surveillance, testing and quarantining. Enhanced intervention in the containment zones helps us prevent the virus spreading to the neighbourhood,” KS Kandasamy, Tiruvannamalai district collector, told The New Indian Express.
The names and phone numbers of revenue, health and civic body officials are displayed in the containment zones so that people under home quarantine can have easy access to them.
To ensure unhindered supply of essentials, volunteers have been nominated. A volunteer is specifically posted for distributing kabasura kudineer for the inmates of houses in the containment zones.
Kandasamy said, “The effective interventions to boost immunity are sure to give the desired results. On the tenth day of the reporting of the first case in the containment zones, we take 30 per cent samples to ensure there is no further transmission.”
In Vellore city, COVID-19 infections are rising every day. The district administration and the Vellore City Municipal Corporation (VCMC) have been taking proactive measures to control the menace.
Even though the lockdown restrictions were eased in the rest of the district, they continue with partial relaxations in areas that fall under the jurisdiction of VCMC as a Koyambedu-like cluster has come up in the Fort City which has more than 800 active cases.
District collector A Shanmuga Sundaram said, “The restrictions will be in force as COVID-19 is spreading faster in Vellore city.”
The VCMC has formed surveillance teams for each of the sixty wards to keep a close vigil on the containment zones and the people quarantined at home.
“The teams are entrusted with the task of ensuring no violation of the quarantine norms. If we can keep people confined within the four walls, it will help us reduce the chances of the virus spreading to others,” a senior officer pointed out.