CHENNAI, COIMBATORE: Western districts in Tamil Nadu continue to record an upward swing compared to data from other districts.
Weekly cases calculated by Express show that Coimbatore, Erode and Tiruppur districts have clocked higher cases from May 24 to 30 than the previous week (May 17 to 23). However, the opposite trend was seen in northern districts like Chennai, Chengalpattu, and Tiruvallur.
While Coimbatore recorded 20,057 cases from May 17 to 23, it rose to 23,839 the next week. In the same period, there was a drastic fall in Chennai (from 34,339 to 18,173 cases). Cases in Erode and Tiruppur, too, rose from 9,157 and 9,447 to 10,096 and 10,866, respectively, in the said period. A decrease, similar to Chennai was visible in Chengalpattu, which recorded 13,082 from May 17 to 23, and 8,676 from May 24 to 30. In Tiruvallur, too, it fell from 9,783 to 6,801.
Noticing the rise in cases, Chief Minister MK Stalin visited Coimbatore and Erode on Sunday. Health officials and ministers, too, have been making frequent tours to the districts. Meanwhile, Coimbatore district health department stated that the curve is entering a plateau. For the fourth consecutive day, the district reported fewer than 4,000 cases, with 3,488 cases being clocked on Monday.Speaking to Express, Coimbatore’s Deputy Director of Health Services (DDHS) S Senthilkumar said the plateau would continue for a few days until a descending trend in caseload.
“The plateau in cases is because of the intervention activities taken by the department like establishing containment zones, contact tracing and vaccinating the prioritised category, etc,” he said, adding that there was a slight drop in the positivity rate in almost 22 laboratories that are testing samples collected from residents.Official sources said that Coimbatore is considered to be one week behind Chennai’s Covid curve. “It is predicted that the district’s fresh case tally would soon witness a downward trend in a week. As it has been over three weeks since the lockdown came into force, its impact may soon be evident,” said sources. At least 34 of 100 samples collected from residents in the district have rendered positive results, added sources.
Comparing positivity rate
A health department official said, “Cumulative test positivity rate recorded from March 2021 is higher in Coimbatore than Chennai. The TPR since March is 11.57 per cent in Coimbatore and 11.21 per cent in Chennai. Daily tests have been ramped up in the western district.” Officials said that following Chennai, Tiruppur has the highest positivity rate of 10.77 per cent and in Erode, it is 7.99. The deaths, too, are higher in a few districts, including Chennai. According to data shared by the health department, average number of deaths recorded in Chennai between May 20 to 30, stand at 88, followed by 39 in Chengalpattu, 26 in Coimbatore, and 25 in Tiruvallur.