Chennai Corporation focuses on vulnerable residents to prevent third wave

Officials have been instructed to vaccinate 8 lakh persons with comorbidities

Localised coverage: The civic body has collected data about vulnerable residents, and will help them get all assistance at the divisional level.

The Greater Chennai Corporation has planned to focus on 8 lakh vulnerable residents to manage the third wave of COVID-19.

The civic body has also started sealing shops that violated Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to prevent any surge in the number of cases.

For the past few days, the Corporation had only imposed a fine for violation of SoPs. Two shops in Wallace Road and one shop in Meeran Sahib Street in Ritchie Street Market, were locked and sealed on Thursday.

Corporation officials conducted a meeting with Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) officials on Thursday to take initiatives to prevent the third wave of the pandemic. A group of medical students in Madras Medical College have tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. All of them had been admitted in the hospital, officials said.

The civic body has started taking measures to prevent any increase in the number of cases, focusing on vaccination of residents with comorbidities and enforcement of SoPs at commercial areas. Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has directed zonal level officials to vaccinate all 8 lakh vulnerable residents. Many of the zones have vaccinated over 50% of the vulnerable residents. Zones with commercial areas, such as Royapuram, have vaccinated 58% of vulnerable residents.

Prioritised vaccination

“Today, we met ICMR experts. We will focus on former and present tuberculosis patients, and also pregnant mothers. We will also keep them in focus for prioritised vaccination,” Mr. Bedi said.

The civic body has collected data about vulnerable residents, and will help them get all assistance at the divisional level. It will start increasing ICU beds to manage the third wave. The tendering process is expected to start on Friday.

The Corporation will call for filling the posts of specialists as sanctioned by the State government. Walk in interviews are expected to start shortly.

“We will keep on augmenting our infrastructure. We are continuing the existing testing. More than 25,000 persons are tested every day,” an official said.

Published - July 16, 2021 02:50 am IST