Hospitals in Chennai have more Covid-19 patients from nearby districts

CHENNAI: The city has been reporting a steady decline in daily cases of Covid-19 in the past 20 days, but its neighbouring districts of Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur are seeing an uptick in cases. City hospitals including the four government medical colleges treating critically-ill patients say more patients from the neighbouring districts are now occupying their beds.
“While Chennai may have seen a substantial decline in the number of cases, hospital beds in city are still full. This is because these districts have limited critical care beds and most people say they can access Chennai hospitals faster than those in their own districts,” said a joint director of public health. “For instance, a patient in Mogappair may find it easy to reach Chennai than travel to Tiruvallur GH,” he added.

On Monday, the government dashboard showed that some of the 81 private hospitals in Chennai had 100% bed occupancy. In Chengalpet, 70 of the 175 beds in five hospitals were vacant. More than 75 patients were admitted to Dr Rela’s Institute of Medical Sciences in Chromepet. In Kancheepuram, of the 718 beds in six hospitals, 605 were vacant. In Tiruvallur, of the 356 beds in eight hospitals, 290 were vacant.
Chennai, which recorded 2,182 cases on July 1, reported 1,298 cases on Monday. The adjoining districts, which together had 459 cases on July 1, had 1,137 cases on July 20. While cases in Chengalpet and Kancheepuram nearly doubled, Tiruvallur recorded a 55% increase. The case fatality rates in these districts were also marginally higher. While Chennai had a death rate of 1.6%, Chengalpet had 2% and Tiruvallur 1.8. In Kancheepuram, fatality rate was nearly equal to Chennai.
Among the three districts, Tiruvallur had the highest number of active cases at 3,457 and the lowest doubling period – time taken to double the total number of positive cases – of 16 days compared to 46 days in Chennai. There are 2,187 people still under treatment in Kancheepuram, which has a doubling period of 19 days. Chengalpet, with 2,549 active cases, had a doubling period of 26 days. “Lower doubling time indicates the infection is on the rise. Districts should ensure they hold fever camps and test people with symptoms. People should be fined for violation of social distancing norms or not wearing masks,” said former city health officer Dr P Kuganandam. “Chennai may have flattened the curve, but it will continue to be at risk unless neighbouring districts act.”