Health dept increases no. of samples tested as daily cases surge again
With Tamil Nadu recording an increase in new COVID cases on Thursday for the first time in 69 days, the State Health Department has decided to increase the number of samples being tested for the infection. The officials said they are also keeping an eye over the rising cases in neighbouring Kerala to ensure that it does not affect the State in any way.
Chennai
On Thursday, 20 districts, including Chennai, recorded an increase that prompted the officials to take efforts to address the situation. According to officials, districts like Chennai, Coimbatore, Erode and Thanjavur, which have seen a surge in cases, would increase the number of samples being tested every day.
“Last week, the testing stood at about 1.3 lakh samples per day, while 1.5 lakh samples are being tested for COVID currently, as the districts have been instructed to step up contact tracing. However, no major clusters have been identified,” said Dr TS Selvavinayagam, Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.
He added that there was no need for the public to panic, as monitoring is being ensured, especially in the districts along the Kerala border because the neighbouring State has been seeing a spike in the last few days.
M Jagadeesan, City Health Officer, Greater Chennai Corporation, said testing and contact tracing that were relaxed are now being increased. “There are no specific household or workplace clusters, but we will monitor the pattern of continuous increase in cases. There seem to be overcrowding in market places; we are taking measures to control that,” he said.
However, though the city has reported a spike in cases after July 26, the number of samples being tested has gone down though marginally – it reduced to 24,239 samples on Wednesday from 25,365 samples on Monday. Officials said it was being increased as more COVID cases are being reported since Monday.
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