COVID-19 positivity rate falls below 5 percent in TN, but still around 9 percent in Chennai

Officials say that even though the overall positivity rate may have reduced, the state’s challenge now is to bring down the intra-district positivity rate
TN health secretary during an inspection at COVID-19 wards of government Rajaji hospital in Madurai. (Photo by special arrangement)
TN health secretary during an inspection at COVID-19 wards of government Rajaji hospital in Madurai. (Photo by special arrangement)

CHENNAI: After many months, the COVID-19 positivity rate in Tamil Nadu has come down to below five percent. On Thursday, the test positivity rate was 4.95 percent.

According to experts globally, a positivity rate of below five percent indicates that the state is controlling the spread well.

Even as daily cases keep hovering around the 4,500 mark every day in the last week, this dip in positivity rate has mainly been due to the state doing close to 90,000 RT-PCR tests a day.

Officials say that even though the overall positivity rate may have reduced, the state’s challenge now is to bring down the intra-district positivity rate.

“We will focus on carrying out tests in areas where cases are coming from. The idea is to focus on intra-district positivity rate and prevent clusters,” Health Secretary Dr J Radhakrishnan told The New Indian Express.

The Health Secretary said the sudden spurt in cases from the Tondiarpet and Ambattur zones has decreased now. “Intra district positivity rate will be brought down by focusing on tests at workplaces, gated communities, and other busy areas through fever camps,” said Dr Radhakrishnan.

While the positivity rate in Tamil Nadu has come down, the positivity rate in Chennai, where the lion’s share of COVID-19 cases are coming from, is still at about nine percent.

The daily tests in the city are around the 13,000 mark and have not been ramped up further. “We have been instructing the Chennai Corporation to ramp up testing to 15,000 a day,” Radhakrishnan said.

Chennai’s neighboring districts Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Vellore are together recording close to 600 cases daily, indicating a downward trend.

In Chennai, five zones -- Thiruvika Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar -- are having more than 1,000 active cases.

Experts said that the positivity rate coming down in the state is a good sign. “As cinema halls are likely to open, it would be challenging. Strict precautions must be followed and fresh air must be pumped in the cinema halls,” virologist Dr Jacob John said.

He said that cinema halls were a risk as the whole hall is air-conditioned. “Mask wearing must be strictly followed as a lot of people still are not seen wearing masks while stepping outside,” said Dr John.

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