Coimbatore: The district’s Covid-19 tally crossed the 65,000-mark on Tuesday, when it added another 534 fresh cases to its kitty. There was a slight dip in the number of active cases, which stood at 4,438 on the day, as 643 patients were discharged from treatment centres. In tandem with the rise in positive cases, the number of containment zones in the city corporation limits has also gone up to 75 on the day, from 44 on Monday.
While the district has recorded 65,406 Covid-19 cases so far, 60,263 patients have recovered till date. The recovery rate now stands at 92.1%.
The Covid-19 toll, meanwhile, increased by two to 705. Among the deceased was a 45-year-old woman, who didn’t have any comorbidities. She was admitted to the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital n April 11 and died of Covid-19 bronchopneumonia 36 hours later. The other victim was an 80-year-old asthmatic, hypertensive man, who died after battling the virus for the past 14 days. It is to be noted that the district has recorded five Covid deaths in a span of 48 hours.
The spike in daily cases has forced the city corporation to reintroduce triage centres. However, only two would be set up now, against five during the first wave. Dr S Raja, city health officer, said they had set up a triage centre at the ESI Hospital three days ago. “We are in the process of setting up another one in a wedding hall at Ramanathapuram. This will help save on manpower and make hospitalization process less cumbersome. People we screen in the triage centre could instantly be admitted to the ESI Hospital, if hospitalization is required.”
Triage centres could also easily identify the positive cases that could be allowed to remain in home isolation. In fact, the number of people in home quarantine has shot up to 168 on Thursday, from 68 on Sunday. “We are more confident about allowing a patient to remain in home isolation after taking their chest x-ray and testing blood sugar levels and BP. If people want to home quarantine, they have to compulsorily come to triage centres after testing positive for the virus,” Dr Raja said.