TIRUCHY: In the wake of a sharp spike in cases and acting on the recommendation of the committee of health experts constituted by the State government, the district administration has ramped up testing. More than 2000 samples were tested in Tiruchy on Friday and Saturday. With this, the district has conducted 30,000 tests so far.
The corporation and health department had drawn flak for its low testing numbers. Last Monday, only 700 samples were tested across the district, which was abysmally low for a population of more than 27 lakh people. Many changes have been made in the past week, as the corona monitoring officer also took stock of the situation. Collector S Sivarasu said that testing would be increased, and more than 1000 samples would be tested. On Friday, 1145 samples were tested, and 1050 samples were tested on Saturday.
The VRDL laboratory at KAP Vishwanathan Government Medical College has tested more than 36,000 samples for coronavirus till Saturday. Of these, 30000 are from Tiruchy district. Meanwhile, private labs have tested 3000 samples, said the Collector S Sivarasu. The VRDL laboratory has the capacity to test 900-1200 samples per day.
"We will be testing more samples. We also urge people to stay indoors as much as possible, wear masks and follow social distancing," said the Collector.
The Corporation, which was testing only 250-300 samples per day, has also started identifying major areas where the virus can spread and have been testing people in those areas. On Saturday, 127 vegetable and fruit traders were tested at the Uzhavar Sandai ground in Tiruchy.
"We are trying to ascertain the chain of the spread. We are checking markets and public gatherings, and those are the biggest reasons of the spread. We want to arrest the virus at the source. We are testing about 400 people daily and controlling the spread at the grassroots," said Corporation Commissioner S Sivasubramaniam.
Before Uzhavar Sandai market, traders at G Corner, Gandhi Market, Mathuram ground market, onion market have also been tested. In all these markets, only 12 traders have tested positive.
Experts also recommended that fever camps should be conducted, like in Chennai. The corporation has decided to take a different route and has appointed 65 bill collectors to check people across the city. Each bill collector would check the temperature of 100-200 people per day, said the commissioner.
TABLE
TOTAL SAMPLES TESTED TILL DATE
GOVT VRDL LAB 30,000
PRIVATE LABS 3,000
SAMPLES TESTED ON FRIDAY 1145
SAMPLES TESTED ON SATURDAY 1050