The positivity rate in Madurai district has stabilised at 3.6 since the second week of September till September 25 as a minimum of 2,500 samples are being taken each day by the district administration.
Speaking to The Hindu, Deputy Director, Health Services, K. V. Arjun Kumar, said that 70 to 90 cases have been recorded in the last two weeks. “We are determined to sustain the gains we have made till date. The focus is to ensure that the untested get tested too,” he says.
He adds that majority of those who were tested each day were contacts of COVID-19 positive patients. “Apart from them, we also test workers at the Government Rajaji Hospital, Primary Health Centres and public at fever camps,” he says.
A source from the Madurai Corporation said that the number of people getting tested at fever camps have dropped since the lifting of lockdown. “Since work has begun, people do not have the time to think about their health. They are mostly concentrating on their livelihood. The cases are few in number too. Fear regarding COVID-19 has dropped,” the source said.
District Collector T. G. Vinay said that they will continue to ensure testing of samples until the number of active cases currently at 721, drops even further. “We do not have a fixed number of tests each day. Patients with severe acute respiratory infection and influenza like illnesses get tested. We want to ensure that the positivity rate is low,” he said.