According to a Corporation statement, it had already deployed as many as 80 ambulances to transport COVID-19 patients to the screening centres. Of the 80 vehicles, 42 are already in service at 107 core city divisions. "In addition to the 42 vehicles, another 65 vehicles have been deployed on Sunday," the release added.

Core city zones are Tondiarpet, Royapuram, Thiru Vi Ka Nagar, Anna Nagar, Teynampet, Kodambakkam and Adyar. Among thesezones, Teynampet has the highest number of divisions (18), hence more vehicles have been allotted to the zone. Earlier, all the core city zones had only six vehicles each.

Once the test results confirm a person positive for the virus, the civic body would take them, if he or she is below 50-years of age without any comorbidities, to one of the 12 screening centres run by the civic body. The doctors present at the centre would screen the condition of the patient and make a decision whether to send the patient to home isolation or to COVID care centre or hospital.

Meanwhile, State Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan and ChennaiCorporation Commissioner GPrakash inspected the new vehicles and a screening centre in Valasaravakkam zone on Sunday.

"The Chief Minister has urged us to ensure the patients to be dropped at their houses (for home isolation) within three hours after they were picked up to the screening centres. However, it takes at least four hours now. The additional vehicles will cut down the time," Prakash said.

Radhakrishnan also emphasised that the public should wear masks and maintain social distancing in public places. He made the request as the lockdown relaxations come into effect in the city as well as in the State from Monday.

"In Chennai, the number of streets with active cases have come down in the last 10 days to 8,402 from 9,520. The public should cooperate with the government in controlling the disease," he said. He also added that the State has cured 18 patients using the plasma of recovered patients and plasma donors would be registered.