TIRUCHI
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan on Monday said that special focus was being accorded in those districts where COVID-19 positivity rate, or the number of samples that test positive among the total figure, was more than 10%.
The focus was being accorded to Cuddalore, Ariyalur, Krishnagiri, Nagapattinam, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai, Chengalpattu, Kanyakumari, Tiruvarur, Tenkasi, Theni and Karur districts in an effort to bring down the positivity rate, Mr. Radhakrishnan told reporters here after reviewing the COVID-19 prevention measures taken in Tiruchi district.
The Health Department was also continuously monitoring districts where the positive cases were below 10 % such as Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem and Tiruvallur districts. The positivity rate in Tiruchi was 5.96 %, he said. Necessary instructions had been given to the administration authorities of those districts which were performing well to continue with their field-level measures in controlling the spread of the infection, Mr. Radhakrishnan said.
Maintaining that aggressive testing for COVID-19 was being carried out across Tamil Nadu, Mr. Radhakrishnan said the RT-PCR testing had been done on nearly 38 lakh people in the State so far. In addition to this, sustained monitoring at the field-level apart from tracing the high-risk contacts and testing them would also have to be done. He said the cases were coming down in Tiruchi, Madurai and Virudhunagar districts. The strategy was to devise micro-level plans for effective implementation at field-level.
Replying to a query. Mr. Radhakrishnan said those with mild symptoms should immediately subject themselves to testing as nearly 98.3% of such cases could be completely cured.
Answering a query on the alleged shortage of beds, Mr. Radhakrishnan said over 1 lakh beds were available for COVID 19 patients across the State out of which over 10,000 beds were allocated in private hospitals.
More than 3,500 ventilators were available in government hospitals. The State government was planning to buy ventilators additionally. Nearly 85 to 90% of COVID-19 patients were provided treatment in government hospitals.
Action had been initiated against a couple of private hospitals in the State which had charged excessively. Further, 10 private hospitals had paid back the additional amount collected from patients, he said.