With 211 COVID-19 cases in the city limits as on Tuesday, the Chennai Corporation plans to go in for widespread testing, collecting over 40,000 samples by the time the extended lockdown ends on May 3.
“As many as 10,000 samples will be taken from residents of 80 containment zones where positive cases have been reported,” said Chennai Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash.
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Pointing to the need to also collect samples from residents across the city, he said that the civic workers would collect 40,000 samples in all by the end of April. “A total of 30,000 samples will be taken from residents of areas where positive cases have not been reported. This sample size of 40,000 is 0.5% of the city's population. The sample strength is good and it will give good results in terms of finding trends,” he said. “At least 600 samples were collected earlier. On Tuesday, 800 more were collected. Our goal is to achieve 2,000 samples per day,” he said, requesting residents not to consider testing a taboo. “Once our test results indicate an improvement, we will be able to tackle this medical emergency,” he said.
“The Corporation will set up 35 centres for sample collection. We have already started 16 centres. Doctors and technicians on deputation have been trained for the purpose,” he added.
Hotspots mapped
Meanwhile, the Corporation made it possible for residents to view containment spots in the city through the GCC Corona Monitoring App. The updated app now has a map that shows an embedded view of the areas that have been identified as containment zones. The app, launched early this month, gives residents the options of reporting symptoms as well as crowded spots, based on which action can be taken.
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As part of its door-to-door survey, the Corporation has identified 3,886 persons with symptoms across the 15 zones in the city as on April 13. Among them, 3,274 persons were identified as having been cured, while the Corporation would follow up on 612 persons in the coming days.
The Corporation had identified 12,047 containment blocks across 15 zones and, for verification, nearly 11,678 persons had been appointed. As part of the monitoring plan in place for containment zones in the city, the ciivic body had surveyed over 81 lakh houses, officials said.
