While the spread of novel coronavirus was largely concentrated in urban centres and its peripheries in central districts, officials and doctors say that more than half of COVID-19 cases reported in August have come from rural areas. With the increase becoming more distinct, authorities have shifted focus to containment of transmission of the virus in these areas.
Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Pudukottai districts have recorded a hike in cases with many patients hailing from town and village panchayats.
In Tiruvarur, a doctor at Tiruvarur Medical College Hospital told The Hindu that of the 236 villages in the district, a majority of cases were being reported from 90 villages.
“While the advantage is that many of them are mild or asymptomatic, they may still become super-spreaders of the viral infection,” the doctor said.
However, despite the increase in cases in small villages, no cases of recurrence of the viral infection have been reported in Tiruvarur district, he added.
In Ariyalur district, the positivity rate has seen a slight increase at 8.5% due to increase in cases in rural areas.
“The first challenge that villages are likely face is one of testing. Most of the RT-PCR labs are located in big cities, or at district headquarters. Therefore, to reach the grassroots, fever camps are being held, and also all primary healthcare centres in Ariyalur district take swab tests for COVID-19,” a health department official said.
In Pudukottai, where a steady rise of cases has been recorded for over a month, the number of positive cases in rural areas are equal to that of the town, said V. Arjun Kumar, Deputy Director of Health Services.
“We have witnessed a significant rise in index cases with no history of contact or travel. These patients are being identified at fever camps being held across the district,” he said.
Aranthangi and its surrounding villages are recording a rise, Dr. Arjun Kumar added.
Meanwhile, quarantine norms in the district have been modified. “If there are three positive cases on a street, irrespective of whether they are from the same house or not, the street is declared a containment zone,” he pointed out.
Forty such zones are currently barricaded and cordoned off in the district.
The departments of health, revenue and civic bodies in the district are working hand-in-hand to contain the spread of the infection by conducting door-to-door surveillance and fever camps, They are also looking to involve non-governmental organisations to assist in surveillance, Dr. Arjun Kumar said.