At 30pc, Chennai TPR overtakes that of deadlier 2nd wave
Explaining the measures taken to control the spread, Bedi said that around 6,000 to 7,000 persons are being fined for not following safety norms by police and the civic body.
By : migrator
Update: 2022-01-16 21:12 GMT
Chennai
The test positivity rate (TPR) of the third wave has overtaken the TPR registered during the much deadlier second wave. The city has around 58,000 active as well, which is the highest since the outbreak of the pandemic.
According to health department data, as many as 29,960 samples were tested on Saturday, of which 8,978 samples turned out to be COVID positive, which is 30 per cent TPR. On Friday, the civic body tested 31,371 samples, out of which 8,963 were positive. The TPR on the day was 28.6 per cent.
On May 10, the city recorded a TPR of 26.6 per cent, which was the highest during the second wave when the delta variant ravaged the city. However, the TPR was over 30 per cent during the first wave.
On Sunday, 8,987 new cases were reported and as many as 6,018 patients were discharged.
When asked the reason for higher TPR in the city, Gagandeep Singh Bedi, Chennai Corporation Commissioner, said the civic body is testing more than 30,000 samples daily. “Also, the Omicron variant is many times infectious than the delta variant. Only positive thing is that the Omicron variant does not cause breathing issues and hospitalisation is very low,” he added.
Explaining the measures taken to control the spread, Bedi said that around 6,000 to 7,000 persons are being fined for not following safety norms by police and the civic body. Also, 1,535 volunteers have been appointed to visit the house of the positive persons to strictly ensure home quarantine norms are followed.
“We have strengthened screening centres. During the last three days, the numbers are almost static and cases are not increasing in Chennai,” he added.
Another official pointed out that the civic body is testing family members and contact tracing is being done vigorously to trace out all the infected persons.
Tamil Nadu’s vaccination rate below national average, only 11 dists perform well
While it has been a year since the vaccination against COVID started in the State, only 11 districts are above the national average. The national average for the first dose is 92 per cent and the second is 68 per cent, while TN’s average is 88.59 per cent for the first dose and 64.18 per cent for the second.
The highest of 110 per cent of people were vaccinated in Kancheepuram and Ranipet administered has the lowest of 70.85 per cent first doses. Tirupattur (46.34 per cent) and The Nilgiris (85.65 per cent) recorded the lowest rate in administering the second dose.
As many as five districts have the complete inoculation rate below 50 per cent. While Chennai gave the first dose to 93.78 per cent and the second to 73.64 per cent of its population, only 50 per cent has been covered in the 15-18 years group.
Meanwhile, public health director Dr TS Selvavinayagam said the vaccination percentage of elderly in Tamil Nadu is comparatively less at 62 per cent for the first dose and 48 per cent for the second, when compared to the overall achievement of 88.62 per cent for the first dose and 64.23 per cent for the second in the country. Administrative analysis of the 191 deaths due to COVID-19 between January 1 and 15 revealed that 131 were either not vaccinated or partially vaccinated. It also shows that the protective effect of vaccination is often scuttled by uncontrolled comorbidities.
The analysis revealed that 163 out of 191 (85.3 per cent) deceased were above the age of 50 and with comorbidities. At least 181 (94.7 per cent) had comorbidity. The analysis of the combination of elderly with comorbidities revealed that 159 (83.2 per cent) deaths happened in elderly persons with uncontrolled comorbidity.
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