After being caught unaware in the initial days of the pandemic, the Greater Chennai Corporation managed to bring the situation under control by aggressive testing, conducting more than eight lakh RT-PCR tests so far. Such is the magnitude of the number that the city has so far done more tests than 15 states and eight union territories, show figures.
Chennai:
According to Corporation officials, more than 8.25 lakh tests were conducted in the city limits as on Wednesday. A senior official said the civic body was conducting 12,000 tests a day on an average, with the highest number recorded on August 8 when it tested 14,027 samples.
This high testing rate is considered to be the reason for the city achieving reduction in positivity rate in the recent weeks. “Now, the positivity rate has gradually dipped to about 8.5-9.5 per cent from 14-15 per cent last month,” the Corporation official said. Moreover, the doubling time has improved to 72.2 days in the city from 25 days a month ago. “In some divisions in north Chennai, the doubling time has improved to 140-150 days,” the official added.
“Experts feel that bringing the positivity rate to five per cent would be an important milestone. But it can be achieved only gradually, by strictly adhering to social distancing norms and wearing masks along with testing. We are working hard to bring down the positivity rate between 6-6.5 per cent by the end of this month,” the official added.
Dr Prabhdeep Kaur, deputy director, National Institute of Epidemiology (ICMR), Chennai, had commented that masks and testing have helped slow down the COVID-19 transmission in Chennai. “Need to be sustained and replicated in all other districts. Also need to step up social distancing in workplaces/markets, the turnaround time for test results, early isolation and effective contact tracing,” she posted on social media.
On Wednesday, Chennai recorded 993 new cases, taking the total to 1,12,059 cases, of which 98,736 have been discharged. Active cases have come down to 10,953 cases – or 9.7 per cent. The number of deaths stands at 2,370.