Two of the most-affected zones in the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) limits — Tondiarpet and Royapuram — are now testing more number of samples for COVID-19.
In four days, the number of samples have increased by two to three times in both zones.
Both Tondiarpet and Royapuram account for a high number of cases. As per the data released by the GCC at 8 a.m. on June 24, Royapuram (Zone V) had a total of 6,607 cases followed by Tondiarpet (Zone IV) with 5,355 confirmed cases. Of this, 4,086 persons in Royapuram and 2,896 persons in Tondiarpet were discharged.
Aggressive testing and intensive fever surveillance were among the many strategies implemented to combat the disease in the two areas of North Chennai, officials said. “Around 500 to 600 fever camps are being held in the city every day. Of this, 90 to 100 camps are held in Tondiarpet and Royapuram zones. We have increased the number of samples by two to three times in four days. We lifted around 400 samples in Royapuram and 500 in Tondiarpet on Wednesday. We are testing aggressively and as a result, we are detecting a lot of cases,” an official said.
As per the sample collection details on June 23, Tondiarpet zone accounts for the highest number of samples among GCC areas with 522 samples, followed by Royapuram with 415. This was a two- to three-fold increase when compared to those lifted on June 19 — 183 and 139 samples in Tondiarpet and Royapuram respectively.
Officials said door-to-door surveillance was strengthened, and thermal guns were provided to surveyors. “Unlike earlier, when surveyors ask for symptoms, they now check the residents’ temperature to make the surveillance effective. We are picking up 350 to 500 persons with Influenza Like Illness during fever surveillance. All of them are screened, and those with symptoms are tested. We want to test all symptomatic persons, isolate and treat them to contain further spread,” he said.
Overall goal
Though cases are peaking in the two zones, the aim was to increase testing and save lives.
“Cases will go up but we want to save more people by identifying those with symptoms, testing and treating them on time. We want to catch them on time before symptoms progress to severe. This way, we can reduce deaths,” he added.
