TIRUCHI
Positivity rate of COVID-19 infection among overseas returnees, particularly those arriving from Singapore and Malaysia in Tiruchi, and has remained steady at around 1% over the last few months.
As many as 174 international flights have landed at the Tiruchi International Airport up to August 31 since the imposition of lockdown in March. Most of them were operated under the Vande Bharat Mission to bring stranded Indians who wanted to return to their natives in the wake of the spread of the virus. They were operated from various countries, including Singapore, Malaysia and Dubai.
Of the 28,621 overseas passengers who have landed in Tiruchi, 371 have tested positive for the virus so, accounting for a positivity rate of 1.35 %.
The positivity rate was very low among the passengers from South East Asian nations. Of the 7,877 passengers who arrived through 45 flights from Singapore and Malaysia, just six have tested positive, making for a positivity rate of just 0.08%.
On the other hand, of the 17,834 passengers from middle east countries, 344 have tested positive for COVID-19. In terms of positivity rate it was 1.93. The positivity rate among passengers arriving from Maldives stood at 1.58%.
There were hardly any passengers from Singapore and Malaysia, who tested positive for the virus, for the last few weeks.
“The positive rate among overseas returnees is under control. In the initial stages of COVID-19 virus, the positivity rate was a bit high among them. But, it continues to be on decline,” says S. Sivarasu, Tiruchi Collector.
He told The Hindu that the positivity rate had been showing encouraging signs of a downtrend among the domestic travellers too. A total of 19,917 passengers had arrived in Tiruchi from different destinations through 341 flights. The positivity rate was 1.05 % among them.
Mr. Sivarasu said that a foolproof arrangement was put in place at the Tiruchi airport to collect swab specimens of the passengers upon arrival and screen them. The passengers, who had fever, cough and cold, were directly taken to the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital. The system would continue for a few more months.