The Health Department on Tuesday began screening people for symptoms of COVID-19, using thermal scanners on roads in Coimbatore city.
City Police Commissioner Sumit Sharan said the screening was done at various locations in the city with health workers on different shifts.
The workers were provided personal protective equipment. People having fever or other symptoms of influenza will be referred to hospital for consultation with a doctor.
Meanwhile, the police on Tuesday continued random stopping of vehicles at various locations for 30 minutes to reduce movement of people.
Police personnel also issued them advisory using public addressing systems.
On Monday, the police arrested 585 persons in 546 cases and seized 499 vehicles for violating the prohibitory order in Coimbatore city and rural limits. Those arrested were released on bail.
Special Correspondent adds
The shifting of testing equipment from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) to test samples for COVID-19 will take the total number of testing facilities in the district to five.
Collector K. Rajamani said the equipment would be shifted late Tuesday night or Wednesday morning and this would be the second facility at CMCH. The other testing facilities are: two at the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital and a private laboratory.
With five testing facilities, the district could test 1,000 samples a day, the Collector said. As of Tuesday, the number of samples tested stood at 525.
Mr. Rajamani also said that of the 1,400 samples collected by the Department of Public Health and the Coimbatore Corporation in the last three days, he had directed 400 samples to be sent to Chennai as a special case.
The increased testing of persons who were secondary and tertiary contacts of COVID-19 positive persons would help in containing the spread of the virus.
Corporation lifts swab samples
For the second day on Tuesday, the Coimbatore Corporation lifted samples from various areas in the city.
Sources said medical officers attached to various urban primary health centres had on Monday night collected samples from nearly 80 persons in Vilankurichi, over 35 persons in R.S. Puram, and a like number in Thudiyalur.
The exercise continued on Tuesday with samples being taken from people in Pillaiyarpuram, Sundarapuram and Kuniamuthur. The samples were sent to the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital for test.
The sources said that the medical officers had completed lifting samples on Monday by 11 p.m. and had resumed their duty by afternoon on Tuesday. Their ability to lift samples hinged on the Department of Public Health giving them viral transport medium (VTM) kits to safely collect and transport the samples.