According to Greater Chennai Corporation data, the overall average growth rate of new cases for the past seven days, till Sunday, was at -2.4 per cent. Among the 15 zones of the city, as many as 13, except Anna Nagar and Alandur, registered a negative growth rate. Both the zones recorded a growth rate of 0.1 per cent, which is almost zero growth rate.

It may be noted that for the week ended on October 3, the city had recorded an average growth rate of 2.7 per cent and 12 of the 15 zones showed a positive growth rate. This was due to the sudden spike in the number of cases and the city was witnessing more than 1,000 new cases every day during that period.

“Now, the number of new cases are coming down. On Monday, only 885 new cases have been reported,” an official said.

Among the zones, Royapuram, one of the worst-hit zones during the early days of the pandemic, registered -4.7 per cent growth rate. Manali registered -4.5 per cent and Valasaravakkam, -4.2 per cent growth rate. Both Perungudi and Teynampet registered -4.1 per cent. Tondiarpet and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar registered -3.8 per cent and -2.9 per cent respectively.

Zones such as Sholinganallur, Madhavaram, and Ambattur registered less than -2 per cent growth rate, while Kodambakkam and Thiruvottiyur registered less than -1 per cent. Also, Adyar had -0.7 per cent growth rate.

The number of active cases in Tondiarpet and Royapuram had come below 5 per cent as the zones had only 4 per cent active cases. Only 670 and 708 people are under treatment in the zones, as on Monday morning.

Overall, more than 1.73 lakh people recovered from the viral infection outbreak, which is 92 per cent recovery rate. However, 3,520 people have died so far and 12,583 are under treatment in the city.