Anticipating a increase in COVID-19 positive cases in the district in the next few days, the district administration is looking at increasing the number of beds for asymptomatic patients, Collector K. Rajamani told The Hindu.
The number of positive cases in the district went up from 143 in April to 3,906 as of August 16. The district had seen another 393 persons turning positive on August 17. Correspondingly, the positive rate also went up from 2.2 in April to 11.25 by mid-August.
The Collector said Kuniamuthur, Karumbukkadai, Selvapuram, P.N. Pudur, Saravanampatti and Ramanathapuram were among the few areas within the city that repeatedly showed increase in cases.
He said the number of cases would come down in the next couple of weeks, because more samples were being lifted by the Coimbatore Corporation. It was around 4,000 samples a day in the city.
Likewise, the Corporation had also expanded the number of fever clinics it held. As of August 18, it had conducted 6,000-plus such clinics and screened six-and-a-half lakh persons.
To manage the anticipated spurt in cases, the administration was looking at increasing the beds at the COVID-19 Care Centre at the Codissia complex. The addition of 500 beds would take the total number of beds there to around 1,200, Mr. Rajamani said.
Similarly, the administration also looked at increasing the number of beds at State Government-run hospitals in the city’s periphery, Pollachi, Mettupalayam and Annur.
The 500 beds to be increased in Codissia would be in addition to the woman-only care centre that the Corporation would establish in a day or two near Vadavalli, he added.
Sub-standard masks
The district administration has rejected more than 2.80 lakh masks that it received from a private company for distribution to public distribution system (ration) card holders as they were sub-standard.
Collector K. Rajamani said the administration rejected the mask after getting it tested at an approved facility. It had received six lakh mask in the first instalment. Its requirement was 43 lakh. He also said that the administration had also written to the State Government in this regard.