Tiruchi Corporation has begun door-to-door surveillance to identify residents with fever symptoms in accordance with recommendations of the expert committee set up to contain the spread of COVID-19.
The civic body has purchased 65 thermal guns and distributed them to bill collectors of each of the 65 wards in the city.
The bill collector will go to a minimum of 50 residences daily and ask residents about their travel and health history. They will check the temperature of all occupants of a house and record the details, Corporation Commissioner S. Sivasubramanian told
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The exercise, which began on Monday, will help in identifying and controlling clusters of the novel coronavirus. “Earlier, the effort was limited to collecting details. Now, we have included active screening,” he said.
“In areas such as Varaganeri, Nadu Guzilli Street and Thillai Nagar, many from within containment areas tested positive. In other districts, the source of the infection was mostly imported and it was spreading among immediate contacts in Tiruchi,” he added.
In April, anganwadi workers, women self-help groups and volunteers were pressed into action to conduct door-to-door surveys of residents, their age groups and pre-existing ailments. Now, the bill collectors will primarily check for fever symptoms.
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“The volunteers continue to do these checks in a selective manner. The bill collectors, however, will check every household in their ward, especially children under the age of 10 and adults over 50 years,” Mr. Sivasubramanian said.
Within containment zones, fever checks are being done daily by health officials of the corporation. The checks begin at 7 a.m. and residents are given kabasura kudineer for consumption in empty stomach. They are also given vitamin tablets to increase immunity.
“As there are complaints of residents in containment zones stepping outside, police presence has been stepped up,” the civic chief added.