Tamil Nadu govt going all out to contain Covid-19 spread in Madurai, minister Udhayakumar says

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government is going all out to contain the spread of Covid-19 in Madurai, which is battling increasing number of cases.
The authorities have not only increased the number of tests by around four times but also have redefined containment zone norms to restrict access to affected people.
“If a street has more than three positive cases, we are declaring it as a cluster and converting it into a containment zone. People’s movement is either barred or restricted. If we identify the outsiders who came in and isolate them, if found positive, we can control the spread,” state minister for revenue, IT and disaster management R B Udhayakumar told TOI.
“Now we are conducting anywhere between 1,900 and 2,200 tests on an average every day as against 400 – 500 tests per day earlier. We had to increase the number of tests after people came from outside,” Udhayakumar said, speaking from Madurai.
Health secretary J Radhakrishnan visited Madurai on Monday and held consultations with authorities and health professionals to bring things under control.
“Till June, there was no fear about people from other districts, states and countries coming in. Later people came from abroad in flights as well as from other states by trains. A large number of people, who were running idli shops as well as making and selling snacks in Mumbai, especially in Dharavi, returned to Madurai. Obviously, we cannot ask them not to come nor prevent them from coming. While Madurai was reporting 60 – 70 positive cases every day, these people added another 100 – 150. As a result, the numbers started crossing 250 every day,” Udhayakumar said.
The minister expressed hope that the focused approach to identify and isolate them would help curb the spread.
“Of the 5,000 streets in Madurai Corporation, only around 200 are affected. In suburban areas like Sellur, the awareness is still low among people involved in construction as well as among loadmen about wearing masks and maintaining social distancing. As a result, the positive rate is increasing in such areas,” Udhayakumar said.