Corporation Commissioner Raja Gopal Sunkara, three doctors and as many nurses turned COVID-19 positive in the last couple of days, even as the city recorded 140 streets with over four positive cases each.
Sources in the civic body confirmed that Mr. Sunkara, who had fever over the weekend, developed COVID-19 symptoms and was confirmed positive a couple of days ago. Three doctors, two urban health nurses and a staff nurse had also turned positive. This created panic among the health and other frontline workers in the civic body. After the doctors and nurses had turned COVID-19 positive, the Corporation had taken samples from their colleagues and was awaiting the results.
Other than the commissioner, doctors and nurses, none had tested positive though the Corporation was monitoring the health of its frontline staff, the sources also said.
As for the city was for concerned, there were 140 streets with over four COVID-19 positive cases each. The Corporation was not barricading the neighbourhood of positive persons; nor was it sticking bills to caution visitors, as it did during the last wave. This time, the Corporation was going in for micro containment strategy to by and large restricting its work to the house concerned or two houses on either side. Besides, it was not lifting samples from all those in the neighbourhood of positive person.
On January 18, the city recorded 1,221 positive persons. As on Tuesday, it had 5,367 active cases. There were 25 persons in COVID-19 facilities in government hospitals, 115 in private hospitals, 12 in COVID-19 Care Centres and 1,060 in home isolation. Given the increase in cases, the Corporation had kept ready 281 beds in the COVID-19 Care Centre in Government College of Technology, 400 in Bharathiar University and 120 in Tamil Nadu Agricultural University.
The sources also said in the current wave, 80% of persons who had turned positive were family members of those who were positive, suggesting the spread was largely confined to the primary contacts.
