Coimbatore: The number of fresh Covid-19 cases and deaths has considerably reduced in the district, thanks to the increase in immunity against the virus among the public and stricter containment measures.
Data shows that the number of cases in the past fortnight is hardly 45% of what was recorded a month ago. The Covid-19 fatalities too have reduced to less than 50%. While the next fortnight, including Diwali, might again turn the scales, officials are confident that the surge, if occurs at all, will not be as intense as the one in September.
During the period between October 21 and November 4, the district has seen only 3,519 Covid-19 cases, down by 45% from 7,735 cases between September 21 and October 7.
The number of deaths too has come down by nearly 50% to 41 from 80 during the period. Officials say the doubling time has crossed 60 days, compared to the 45-odd days in October.
The dip in cases is attributed to the increase in people with antibodies, which has improved from 7.2% to 21.94%, and scrapping of home isolation in October first week.
Dr K Kolandaswamy, former director of public health, says, “Increase in people with antibodies does not mean only less people could get infected, but it also reduces the number of people who could infect others, breaking the chain of transmission.”
A public health officer says putting an end to home isolation had also helped prevent the spread of infection within a house, members of which might have in turn infected more people.
The credit also goes to city corporation officials, who have been mandatorily testing family members of positive cases, despite the surge, and closely monitoring the patients in home quarantine. Dr Raja, city health officer, says, “Even when we saw 400 cases a day in dense localities, we visited the houses of every positive case and ensured the family members got tested, so that they could be isolated immediately and given medical help. This also helped bring down the mortality rate.”