Rural areas contain virus spread, record just 703 cases till Aug 3

Coimbatore: The rural areas of the district seem to have successfully contained the spread of Covid-19 so far. While 4,975 of the 5,805 cases that the district had recorded as on Monday were reported from the city corporation limits, only 703 cases were logged in rural areas. The remaining 127 cases were reported from semi-urban municipalities of Mettupalayam, Pollachi and Valparai.
In rural areas, Periyanaickenpalayam tops the list with 109 cases, followed by Annur (95). At 23, Madukkarai has, however, the highest number of active cases, followed by Sarkar Samakulam (21) and Periyanaickenpalayam (19).
A senior health department official, who didn’t want to be named, said, “Among the rural areas, Annur turned problematic with the Tablighi Jamaat cluster, while Periyanaickenpalayam started to see Covid-19 cases after many people, who landed from other districts, did not quarantine themselves properly. In rural areas, there was an initial failure from officials in sticking quarantine stickers in front of houses with people in isolation and checking if they were following quarantine rules. On the other hand, city corporation officials were strict on the same.”
Despite containment measures such as contact tracing and isolation, both Periyanaickenpalayam and Annur panchayats continue to see at least five to 10 fresh cases a week. At Periyanaickenpalayam, most affected areas are Govanur, Veerapandi and Jothipuram. Kadhiravamurthy, executive officer, Periyanaickenpalayam panchayat, said, “While a few returnees from other districts tested positive for the virus, others were contacts of earlier patients like their family members. In some cases, people who went to hospitals for other reasons were found positive. We suspect that they might have contracted the virus from the hospital.”
Annur, meanwhile, managed to control the Tablighi cluster to 39 cases, 27 of who were contacts of the remaining 12 patients. At least 16 police officers also contracted the virus in the area. “Besides them, we had a person from Trichy who infected six others and a Rajasthan returnee who infected another six people. The remaining were stray cases,” said the executive officer of Annur panchayat. “There is no community spread, because we are strict on contact tracing, testing and other containment measures.”
South Pollachi and Anamalai, which were Covid-19 hotspots during the Tablighi Jamaat cluster outbreak and its aftermath, have just two active covid-19 cases each. “Since they are primarily tribal forest areas or agriculture lands, they are naturally socially distanced, making isolation easier and more effective,” said an official.