With this metropolis registering over 8,700 coronavirus cases, authorities have launched a door-to-door screening for symptomatic patients in three densely-populated zones that account for over 3,000 COVID-19 patients in the city to “break the chain.”
At last, count on Thursday evening, Chennai had 8,795 cases with 2,823 discharges and 59 deaths. Three zones – Royapuram, Tondiarpet, and Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar – alone accounted for 3,287 cases as of Thursday morning as zone-wise details were not available immediately till the evening, while Kodambakkam had 1,192 cases mostly due to the Koyambedu Market cluster.
Since the aforementioned three zones are over-crowded and are home to several slums, authorities have decided to conduct door-to-door screening to screen all symptomatic patients within the containment zones. Over 500 health inspectors are carrying out the screening activities in the Royapuram area and will be extended to Tondiarpet and Thiru. Vi. Ka. Nagar very soon.
The city has been exploding with COVID-19 cases for the past few weeks even as testing is being ramped up. As on May 19, the city was conducting 12, 673 tests for per million population, which authorities said is the highest in the country and 12 times more than the national average. Over 85,000 individuals have been tested in Chennai city alone, with 3,000 to 3,500 tests being conducted each day.
Also, the city has gone into “focused testing” to identify positive people within the containment zones and tracing their contacts, which authorities say has worked to an extent. The spike in the number of cases in the three over-crowded zones, where houses are cramped, is a cause of concern for the city, whose population is over eight million.
“Earlier, the door-to-door survey was just limited to collecting details from people, but now it includes active screening wherein symptomatic patients are put through an x-ray and sent for testing. We are doing this in all worst-affected areas,” J Radhakrishnan, Revenue Commissioner and Special Nodal Officer for COVID-19, told DH.
Radhakrishnan explained that the situation in 167 out of 200 wards in the city is completely under the control, while the remaining 33 wards have the maximum number of COVID-19 patients.
“The 33 wards are our focus areas. Two-third of the cases reported in the city come from these wards and we have intensified screening activities and contact tracing here. Identifying symptomatic people, testing them, and tracing their contact is inevitable to break the COVID-19 chain,” he said.
Besides, masks and kabasura Kudineer (herbal health mix) are also distributed to people living in the slums and within containment zones to boost their immunity.
Officials say they are finding it difficult to ensure social distancing in areas like Royapuram where a family lives in an area of just 100 sq ft and have shifted hundreds of people to community centres to ensure that they live in hygienic conditions.
Responding to voices that Chennai should improve its testing numbers, Radhakrishnan said the city has been focusing on targeted testing besides identifying people who are vulnerable to the virus. “We are testing twelve times than the national average. More than the number, what is important is the people we test. We are into targeted and focused testing,” he said.
Dr P Kuganantham, former Chennai city health officer and senior epidemiologist, also said he does not agree with calls for increasing the testing numbers. “I don’t agree with calls for increased testing because the state government has already increased testing. We have not reduced testing but are going for focused testing. We test symptomatic people, those with co-morbid conditions and their contacts, besides health care workers. This is enough,” Kuganantham, part of the expert panel advising the government, told DH.