As many as 119 of the 200 wards in Chennai Corporation have reported less than 10 COVID-19 positive cases, said Chennai Corporation special nodal officer J. Radhakrishnan.
Speaking to media persons on Sunday, he said just two wards in the city have registered more than 200 COVID-19 positive cases. As many as 60 wards have reported COVID-19 positive cases in the range of 10 to 30 in the city.
“The number of cases is likely to increase for another five to six days in the city. Testing in hotspot clusters in areas such as Thiruvanmiyur will be increased,” he said.
Stressing on the need for aggressive testing, Mr.Radhakrishnan said targetted testing in clusters such as north Chennai had to be carried out in the past nine days to contain the spread of coronavirus among relatives of residents who tested positive for COVID-19.
Death rate dips
“We are testing 3,500 persons with 19 additional teams. Many people have a question about the rising trend of positive cases in Chennai. We cannot stop testing contacts of those who tested positive. The number of persons tested for COVID-19 is high in Tamil Nadu and Chennai has the largest number of the testing centres,” said Mr. Radhakrishnan.
“The death rate has dipped in the city to - 0.68%. We are focusing containment measures on emerging hotspots. As many as 32 COVID-19 care centres with 500 beds have been readied in the city,” he said.
“NGOs have been roped in to create behavioral changes among residents. Awareness of testing of vulnerable population is also important,” he added.
“This is a war against a pandemic. And all of us have to be sepoys. Many residents do not wear mask. They do not maintain social distancing. More than 30% of residents do not wear mask. They can reduce the spread of COVID-19 by wearing a mask and by maintaining social distancing,” he said.
Koyambedu cluster stabilises
“Koyambedu cluster has stabilised. We have identified more than 2,000 persons from Koyambedu market who have tested positive for COVID-19. The district administration in various districts have traced such persons who have visited Koyambedu,” said Mr.Radhakrishnan.
Pointing to the steps taken to prevent infection from people who return from foreign countries, he said, “All those who have returned from foreign countries to Chennai in the past few days have tested negative for COVID-19. We have quarantined all of them.”
Chennai Corporation Commissioner G.Prakash said they have started sending stranded persons to states such as Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar by rail transport. “We have not received clearance from West Bengal to send stranded persons,” he said.