Tamil Nadu presently has 512 micro containment areas with active COVID-19 cases. Of these, 409 habitations are in urban areas and 103 in rural parts of the State, according to Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan.
There are 1.28 lakh habitations in rural Tamil Nadu. Of these, there are active COVID-19 cases in 2,431 habitations. Out of these, 103 habitations have more than three positive cases, while 2,328 habitations have three and fewer active cases, he told reporters after an inspection at Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) on Friday.
“Of the 1.22 lakh enumerated streets in urban parts, around 1.18 lakh streets are free from COVID-19 cases. There are active cases in 3,960 streets. Of these, 409 places have more than three cases, while 3,551 places have less than three cases each,” he said.
In total, there are 512 micro containment areas where the movement of persons - both entry and exit - from the habitations and streets have been restricted, he said.
Virus variants
The Health Secretary said as of now, there was no confirmed case of the double mutant coronavirus variant in TN. “To date, we have 16 confirmed cases of the UK coronavirus variant and one case of the South African strain. All of them have recovered from the infection. An analysis by the Union Health Ministry has found that the current surge is not linked to the variants,”he clarified.
At the meeting convened by the Chief Secretary, it was decided to increase the number of samples being sent for Whole Genome Sequencing to Bengaluru. For this, samples lifted from clusters were being sent, he said.
Clusters
Currently, the State has location-wise clusters in schools, universities and colleges, he said, adding: “A total of 52 first-year medical students of a deemed university in Kancheepuram tested positive for COVID-19. Now, we have cases at the Central Training Institute, Guindy. We tested 150 persons of which 18 were found to be positive for COVID-19. We are testing the remaining 300 persons.”
He said that there was poor compliance with wearing masks. “Surprise checks in the hospital showed that people do not wear masks and do not maintain physical distancing. We need to change our habits,” he said.
He said that fresh coronavirus infections have increased manifold in Maharashtra, while States such as Punjab and Karnataka, were recording 2,000-plus cases. “In Tamil Nadu, there is a gradual rise in cases. When compared to 475 cases on March 1, we have around 1,800 cases now,” he said.
The State continues to rely only on RT-PCR tests. “From around 52,000 tests on March 1, about 83,000 to 85,000 tests are being conducted at present. To curb the spread of infection, we need to test the contacts of positive patients. Similarly, we need to test persons visiting markets and crowded places. So, there is a chance that the cases may exceed 2,000. When we conduct 85,000 to 1 lakh tests and also test the contacts, we might, on an average, get three to five per cent positivity from that,” he said.
R. Narayana Babu, director of medical education and E. Theranirajan, dean of RGGGH, were present.