Covid-19: Number of containment zones double in one month in Coimbatore

COIMBATORE: A tweak in the definition by the district administration has doubled the number of containment zones in the past month. From 45 containment zones with at least a Covid-19 case in the last week of July, the number increased to 85 as on Sunday.
Earlier, the district administration declared a street as a containment zone only when three or more cases were reported from there. From last week, the district administration declared a street as a containment zone even when a Covid-19 case is reported from there. The containment zones have increased in Madukkarai, Karamadai and Thudiyalur areas.
Of the 85 containment zones, 34 are in Coimbatore city. While Thudiyalur, Karamadai and Madukkarai blocks have 7 containment zones each, Anamalai, Pollachi and Sulur blocks have six containment zones each.
In June, there were 288 containment zones in the district, of which 162 were in the city. However, the number came down below 100 by mid-July and it fell further to 45 in the last week of July.
It increased to 77 in the first week of August and jumped to 85 as on Sunday. A senior health official from Thudiyalur said only three cases were reported in the block on Sunday. But those three areas were declared as containment zones as per the district administration’s instruction.
“The district collector has instructed to declare an area even with one Covid case as containment area to curb further spread of infection. This has resulted in the increase in containment areas in the district,” the official said.
Meanwhile, 217 fresh Covid-19 cases were reported on Monday, a slight decline from 225 on Sunday. The district reported one death due to Covid, taking the toll to 2,219 deaths.
As many as 215 patients were discharged on the day. Of the 2,33,022 cases reported in the district so far, 2,28,397 have recovered.
In Tirupur district, 79 fresh cases were reported on Monday against 84 cases on Sunday. There was a slight decline in deaths. A total of four deaths were reported on the day against five on Sunday. The death toll has increased to 894. With 81 patients getting discharged, there are 912 active cases undergoing treatment at various hospitals in the district. Of 89,199 positive cases reported so far in the district, 87,393 persons have recovered.