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Overall positivity rate in TN dips to 6.7 per cent, lower than natl average of 8.6 per cent
Despite the Centre urging states, including Tamil Nadu, to increase testing and further reduce the overall positivity rate of the virus spread, the State as on Thursday, registered a daily positivity rate of 6.7%, which is significantly lower than the national average of around 8.6%.
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Chennai
While Chennai, which has been the hotspot in TN for several months now, has brought down the positivity rate to around 7% of late, the numbers remain high in other hotspot districts including Coimbatore, with 12% and Salem with 11% positivity rate. Tiruvalluvar and Chengalpattu have a positivity rate of about 7.5% each.
A senior official from the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine said that Chennai numbers have come down due to increased testing and the city tally is very close to achieving the acceptable positivity rate of 5%. However, districts need better coordination, the official added.
Tamil Nadu accounts for 46,610 active cases of COVID-19 currently after 4,70,192 recoveries post treatment which is about 5% of the total active cases in the country.
Former public health director Dr K Kolandaisamy said that the positivity rate can improve only if Tamil Nadu steps up testing. “Testing in districts needs to be increased to improve the overall positivity rate in the State. For the past one month, Cuddalore, Coimbatore, Salem, Tirupur and Chengalpattu have been reporting more cases and these districts should also ramp up the testing,” Dr Kolandaisamy said.
When contacted, Public Health Director Dr TS Selvavinayagam said that the District Administration in Coimbatore, Salem, Chengalpattu, Tiruvallur and Cuddalore have also been instructed to ramp up testing and sample sizes, along with the coordination of private testing laboratories.
A few of the states with a high positivity rate, as on Tuesday, include Maharashtra, Nagaland and Chhattisgarh while Bihar has the lowest positivity rate across the country.
People aware, experts better prepared: Reasons for fall in mortality rate in TN
From hovering above 120 a month ago, the number of deaths due to COVID-19 notified in Tamil Nadu on a day has fallen to less than 70 in the last few days. The figure on Monday, 53, was the lowest in 80 days.
Public health experts cite several reasons for this fall in mortality, including early detection of critical cases through fever camps, improvement in treatment protocol, and early reporting of critical cases to hospital that have helped improve management of cases. According to Dr K Kolandaisamy, the former Director of Public Health, the people have become aware on the one hand, while doctors have developed a better understanding on managing coronavirus cases. Also, the infrastructure and facilities at hospitals have improved.
“In the months since pandemic cases were reported in the State, testing and treatment have been standardised. Now, people are reporting to the hospital in case of fever, considering it to be a suspected case of COVID-19. Using pulse oximeters has also helped in early reporting, which is preventing cases from becoming critical,” he said.
All of this has helped to reduce the doubling time of COVID deaths in the State. For instance, there were 1,951 deaths in the first 17 days of August. In contrast, there have only been 1,296 deaths in the same period this month.
“The people have started to identify the symptoms and seek medical help at the earliest. Also, the manifold increase in testing in the past two months has also helped in early detection of cases. Another factor is fever clinics. In addition to these, infrastructure has also improved in public and private hospitals,” said Dr P Vasanthamani, dean, Government Kilpauk Medical College Hospital.
The hospital authorities added that distinct protocols for most common comorbidities have helped in better management of cases, which in turn helped reduce mortality. There, however, is an issue faced by government hospitals: referral cases from private hospitals when the person is in critical condition.
“There are several factors that were responsible for the deaths due to COVID-19 in Tamil Nadu. We have tried to address all the factors, including infrastructure, human resources, better treatment protocol, procurement of drugs. Even the quality of care has improved over the months,” added Public Health Director Dr TS Selvavinayagam.
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