The number of Chennai’s daily COVID-19 cases, which remains above 100, has been fluctuating for quite sometime now. However, a majority of the patients who have tested positive were family and extended contacts, say officials.
In the last one week, the number of daily cases ranged from 127 on December 17 to 132 on December 21, increasing to 145 on December 23.
“Nearly 30-40% of the total cases are index cases. A majority of our daily cases are family and extended contacts. The travel history and contact history of index cases are undertaken extensively like how we traced and tested all family and extended contacts of the person who first tested positive for Omicron variant. Another recent cluster occurred at a private laboratory where 12 staff tested positive for COVID-19 after a person living in Mumbai visited them,” an official said.
In fact, as part of screening and testing for detection of Omicron, the Greater Chennai Corporation had traced and tested 423 extended contacts in a particular case.
Officials said that not many cases were reported in Zones I (Tiruvottiyur), II (Manali) and III (Madhavaram) of the north region while some localities in the central and south regions reported cases in two digits. As of December 22, 409 streets had active cases in the city. Of these, 352 streets had less than three cases.
Health Secretary J. Radhakrishnan said that they had asked the Greater Chennai Corporation to tighten surveillance and enforcement especially in identified places such as markets where there is a possibility of transmission.
“The awareness is high in Chennai but it has not resulted in change in behaviour. We have stressed on the need to improve communication so that it results in behavioural change. We have asked them to ensure that when positive cases are identified, the extended contacts are to be fully covered,” he said.
He said a large number of persons — about 6.5 lakh to 7 lakh — were due for the second dose of COVID-19 and were postponing it. These persons should be covered through a drive,” he said.