The Greater Chennai Corporation is likely to get more doctors for COVID-19 containment in the city’s 15 zones.
According to the recommendations of public health experts, at least 100 additional medical officers are required for primary health centres to contain the spread of the disease. Greater Chennai Corporation officials said at least 164 additional medical officers were posted for containment activities in various parts.
With the increase in the case fatality rate in the city, the civic body has planned to increase the number of doctors and nurses to control the spread of COVID-19. The number of residents tested for COVID-19 will increase to 13,000 every day after additional manpower is posted, officials said.
“The case fatality rate has touched 1.59%. Zones such as Teynampet have registered more deaths,” said an official. Teynampet, with 174 deaths, has emerged as the zone with the highest number of COVID-19 deaths. It has 2,034 active cases, accounting for 25% of the residents who tested positive. Similarly, the Kodambakkam and Anna Nagar zones have also reported more cases and an increase in the case fatality rate beyond 2%.
Officials said the rise in the case fatality rate in these zones was because of the crowding in commercial establishments. The number of commercial buildings are high in zones such as Anna Nagar, Kodambakkam and Teynampet, where active cases have been reported in large numbers.
The Tiruvottiyur zone has registered a case fatality rate of over 2%. Many of the cases have reportedly been traced to crowding in commercial establishments, officials said.
Greater Chennai Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash on Friday conducted a meeting of representatives of banks and PDS outlets. He directed the officials to shift PDS outlets with more than 1,500 beneficiaries to other locations through bifurcation of the units. The officials will identify the location for the new outlets in two days. Residents will get information on the shifting of the outlets this week.
Similarly, banks have been advised to take initiatives to prevent crowding in branches. Many bank branches in commercial areas have reported COVID-19 cases in the past few days. Such branches will be locked and sealed by the Greater Chennai Corporation for failure to follow physical distancing norms. All those who visit banks have been directed to wear masks.
The Sholinganallur zone has registered 63% of active cases, the highest in the city. But Tondiarpet has registered 19%, Royapuram 17% and Thiru Vi Ka Nagar 26%.
