The health department has intensified door-to-door screening and increased fever camps here as part of measures to curb spread of COVID-19 disease.
In Salem Corporation limits alone where over 110 cases were reported on Friday, screening has been intensified and over 300 field workers have been deployed. According to officials, about 360 field workers have been deployed and they have been visiting 200 houses in containment zones and in affected areas. The workers have been checking the body temperature of residents in an area and patients with symptoms like cold and cough are sent to nearest sample collection centre for tests.
On Friday alone, special fever camps were conducted at 40 places. Swab samples were collected from 1,448 persons from corporation limits alone on Friday. According to officials, they are planning to gradually increase the sample collection to 5,000 samples a day.
S. Subramani, Deputy Director of Health Services, said that about 4,500 samples have been collected on a day here and it would be steadily increased to 5,000. He added that the positivity rate in the district is about 5% and all necessary measures have been taken to handle increase in cases.
Dr. Subramani said that fever camps are being organised at various parts of the district and no clusters have been reported in the district till date.
