Covid-19: Madurai corporation model earns praise

MADURAI: Madurai corporation is showing the way for other districts and city corporations in battling Covid-19 with the chief secretary himself suggesting that the Madurai model be followed.
Micromanagement, aggressive testing and action based on analysis of the situation in each ward in 15 days have helped the authorities curb the spread of the infection in the corporation limits.
Although e-passes are issued freely, there has not been a huge jump in the daily positive count with the total active cases remaining between 500 and 600.
“The chief secretary has recommended ‘Madurai model’ to be emulated in other cities. Those who have spoken to us said that they contacted us following the chief secretary’s directives to get inputs from Madurai to emulate the model in their cities. Commissioner of Chennai Corporation also spoke to Madurai corporation commissioner S Visakan recently,” said an official.
He said that micromanagement, which was proved to be successful in Chennai, is emulated in Madurai Corporation. However, analysis is being done differently in Madurai. “Aggressive testing is important, but it is even more important where we conduct tests. That’s where fortnight analysis comes in handy. Once in 15 days, all the 100 wards are studied. Top 10 wards, which reported the highest number of positive cases in the 15 days, are given focus for the next 15 days,” he said.
Door-to-door screening is being done effectively with the help of 1,500 people who were roped in for the purpose. It is ensured that every household is covered once in three days, he said.
Higher officials and health officials from Madurai Corporation are getting calls from other cities including Chennai to know the practices being carried out here. An official from Madurai Corporation said that officials from Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Salem have contacted them to get the inputs. Health officials from Trichy had spoken to Madurai district health officials recently.
“We were planning to bring down the number of total active cases below 500, but could not achieve it so far. As many as 544 active cases were there in the city on Friday evening,” he said.
Another official said that Madurai has earned a name for itself without spending much. Madurai has got only Rs 2.25 crore so far to fight Covid-19. It is starkly insufficient to fight a pandemic of this scale. As funds from other heads have been exhausted, the authorities have sought funds from state government and are awaiting it, he said.