J Radhakrishnan, Special Officer for COVID-19 control in Chennai, inaugurated the scheme at Kannagi Nagar, Tsunami Nagar and Ezhil Nagar slum clearance board tenements and handed over masks and sanitisers to residents. “There are around 650 slums in the city, in which around 26 lakh people live. All the slum dwellers will be given reusable masks. More than 50 lakh masks will be distributed,” a Corporation release said.

Apart from distributing masks and sanitisers to the residents in the tenements, Radhakrishnan inspected the area, from where 27 positive cases were reported. Of the 27 cases, 13 cases were confirmed on Wednesday.

There are around 23,000 families in the tenements and the civic body had already appointed 150 employees to conduct a door-to-door survey every day. “Four positive cases were identified during the survey. Special teams have been formed to monitor social distancing and to coerce residents to use the masks,” it added.

Radhakrishnan said NGOs have been appointed to create awareness among the residents. He also had conducted inspections in Kodambakkam and Royapuram zones, the severely affected zones in the city.