Tamil Nadu's Test Positivity Rate at an all-time high; Chennai worst-hit

The TPR in Chennai has also shown a steady increase from 2.9% on January 1 to a whopping 30% on January 15

Tamil Nadu’s Covid-19 caseload has increased exponentially in the first 15 days of the New Year with the state’s Test Positivity Rate (TPR) standing at around 17 per cent though hospital occupancy still remains low.

The TPR in Chennai has also shown a steady increase from 2.9 per cent on January 1 to a whopping 30 per cent on January 15, the highest since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020. The neighbouring districts of Chengalpattu and Tiruvallur also have a high TPR at 28.5 per cent and 27.5 per cent, while over a half-a-dozen other districts have TPR higher than 10 per cent.

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As far as the state is concerned, the TPR which stood at a mere 1.1 per cent on January 1 shot to 16.7 per cent on January 15. Though the TPR is higher than the second wave of infections that swept the state in May 2021, the number of deaths, according to experts, remains low so far during the third wave. In the first 15 days, the state has reported 183 deaths, while 22 deaths were recorded on Sunday.

With over 85 of 100 persons testing positive for Covid-19 being found to be infected with Omicron variant, the state government has stopped sending the samples for genomic analysis to the National Institute of Virology, Pune. However, the samples are being analysed at the State Public Health Laboratory in Chennai set up by the Tamil Nadu government.

While hospitals were full during the second wave, the hospital occupancy rate in the state as of January 16 was just a little over 10 per cent, though it was on the higher side at over 20 per cent in Chennai. Doctors working at government and private hospitals told DH that a majority of the deaths occur in people who are unvaccinated or those with serious comorbidities.

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Public health care experts say the third wave is “not severe” only for those vaccinated with both doses of the Covid-19 vaccine, whereas the infection is “very severe” as the other variants in the past among the unvaccinated persons. Low death rate and low hospital occupancy rate are not the reasons for anyone to be “complacent”, the experts said.

“The infection is not mild for everyone. It may be mild for those who are vaccinated with two doses or those who were already infected with Covid-19. Even among this section, the infection could be severe in those who have severe comorbidities like uncontrolled diabetes,” Dr K Kolandaswamy, former Director of Public Health (DPH), Tamil Nadu, told DH.

The ICU admission and the need for oxygen support among Covid-19 patients are low when compared to the second wave, Dr Kolandaswamy said, adding that people should avoid going to crowded and contained spaces where the spread of the virus is very high.

He also said wearing a face mask and washing hands regularly will help prevent a person from getting infected with Covid-19.

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