Coimbatore, nearby districts struggle as Covid-19 cases rise

Chief Minister M K Stalin will be in Coimbatore on Sunday for the second time in two weeks to review the Covid-19 situation

The industrial hub of Coimbatore and its neighbouring districts like Tiruppur are witnessing an exponential increase in the number of Covid-19 case even as numbers continue to reduce in the state capital and adjoining areas.

Cases reported in Coimbatore, which shares a border with Kerala and houses several industries, are much more than Chennai for the past two days, which is a cause of concern. Neighbouring districts including Tiruppur, Erode, and Salem are seeing high numbers for the past few weeks. The mortality rate has also been on the rise.

On May 27, Coimbatore district reported 4,734 cases as against Chennai's 2,779 fresh cases, which has been topping the list ever since the start of the pandemic in March 2020. Tiruppur recorded 2,074 cases, Erode (1,699), and Salem (987) on May 27, reflecting an upward trend.

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Coimbatore has added 30,200 fresh cases in the first 27 days of May, while Tiruppur saw 12,884 cases, Erode had 10,302 cases, and Salem had 2,916 cases. Operational factories (the government has allowed processing industries to function), movement of labourers, and dense population are some of the reasons cited for this increase.

The excellent health infrastructure in the industrial city is under severe stress as it not just caters to those living in Coimbatore, but also across the region. People in Salem, Erode, and Karur have always travelled to Coimbatore for tertiary health care, which is now crumbling.

As the region continues to report a high number of cases, the government on Friday rushed senior bureaucrats M A Siddique, C Samayamoorthy and Dr R Selvaraj to coordinate containment efforts in Coimbatore, Tiruppur, and Erode respectively. Health Department officials in Chennai told DH that authorities in Coimbatore have been asked to focus on containment, identification of clusters, organisation of fever camps, and acceleration of the vaccination drive.

Health Minister Ma Subramanian rushed to Coimbatore on Friday, while Chief Minister M K Stalin will be in the industrial city on Sunday for the second time in two weeks to review the Covid-19 situation.

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“Coimbatore being a healthcare hub is one of the major reasons for the spike in fresh cases. People from at least five districts flock to Coimbatore for healthcare, and hospitals are also fast becoming hot spots. The nature of the virus is to keep travelling till it affects almost everyone. Chennai is improving, but Coimbatore is struggling,” public health expert Dr K Kolandaswamy told DH.

Dr Vanathi Sethupathi, a paediatrician who practices in Erode, told DH that it has been the practice of physicians to refer critical patients to Coimbatore as tertiary health care in Erode, and Salem is very difficult.

“Coimbatore has been the referral centre for many nearby districts due to its excellent health infrastructure. Handling a burgeoning number of cases is very difficult even for the best healthcare centres,” she said, adding the government should focus more on western districts.

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Kolandaswamy, who handled the first few months of the pandemic as Director of Public Health, said the government should add more beds and move ambulances from nearby districts to Coimbatore to handle the situation.

“Proper triaging should be done by filtering the patients. Only those who need oxygen or critical care should be shifted to hospitals, while others should be in home care. The government can also think of shifting patients to districts where the caseload is less,” he added.