CHENNAI: The test positivity rate (TPR) in Chennai has fallen to its lowest levels so far. Weekly average TPR in Chennai was 1.1% on Wednesday and 1.17% on Tuesday. The daily TPR dropped below 1% on Thursday and Wednesday. GCC started publishing the number of people tested everyday only in August 2020.
The previous lowest weekly average TPR in Chennai was 1.3% in mid-February. However, GCC was testing only around 10,000-12,000 samples a day then. The number of active cases in the city at that time was 1,623.
Of the 15 zones, three have shown a slight increase in the number of active cases as compared to a week ago. These are Ambattur, Anna Nagar and Alandur. On June 23, Ambattur, Anna Nagar and Alandur had 207, 300 and 145 active cases respectively. On June 30, the numbers went up to 215, 312 and 153 respectively.
Other zones have shown a decrease in the number of active cases. For instance, Teynampet had 342 active cases on June 23; this decreased to 323 on June 30. Similarly Adyar had 356 cases on June 23, which dropped to 319.
Three zones currently have less than 100 cases; these are Tiruvottiyur (90), Manali (47) and Shollinganallur (94). Teynampet currently has the highest number of active cases, followed by Adyar and Kodambakkam (315).
Currently, GCC tests around 28,000 people every day and active cases on June 30 was 3,121, down from 3,447 a week ago. The testing numbers have remained constant for more than two months now.
GCC officials said they will continue to test the same number every day. A fixed number of samples (500-1,000) will be taken from vendors at fish markets, vegetable and fruit markets and other such crowded places. The effort will also be to vaccinate the vendors on a mass scale, officials said.
