Corpn pulls out all the stops to contain Covid-19 spread

Coimbatore: Intensifying its efforts to contain the spread of Covid-19, the city corporation on Tuesday launched a door-to-door survey to identify returnees and other visitors from other districts and states. About 800 domestic breeding checkers have been deployed for the drive.
A source with the civic body said, “A lot of people from other districts, especially from Chennai and its surrounding areas, have arrived in the city without obtaining permission from the district administration. The survey is intended to identify such returnees and other visitors, who will be kept in home quarantine. Throat swabs will also be collected from them for Covid-19 test.”
Majority of the novel coronavirus cases that the district reported so far this month were one way or other linked to the returnees or outsiders.
The source said people with visible Covid-19 symptoms would also be identified during the survey. While the city corporation has not fixed any deadlines to wind up the survey, the exercise is expected to be completed in a few days.
The survey would record details like the number of people residing in a house, whether they have any Covid-19 symptoms like high temperature and cough, their travel history if any, and whether anyone from other district or state had visited them recently and if yes, their place of origin and whether they had undergone the novel coronavirus testing.
A corporation worker, who didn’t want to be named, said, “As most of the domestic breeding checkers have been working in their respective wards for years together, they know the residents so closely that it would be easy for them to identify the returnees and outsiders. Also, residents are forthcoming to share the information.”
The source said residents were also sharing information about their neighbours who had returned from other places.
The city corporation has also formed 20 flying squads - four squads per zone - to check violations of social distancing and face mask norms at public places. In a press note, city corporation commissioner J Sravan Kumar said the squads would take action against the shopkeepers who fail to ensure social distancing norms and penalize people without face masks. The teams would also educate the public about the importance of wearing face masks while stepping out of their houses, he said.
Meanwhile, the city corporation sealed a shopping complex and a garment shop on Big Bazaar Street on Tuesday for violating Covid-19 guidelines, including social distancing norms.