Aim to bring Covid-19 test positivity rate to 5% by August: Chennai corporation – Times of India

CHENNAI: Greater Chennai Corporation aims to bring down the Covid-19 test positivity rate (TPR) in Chennai to around 5% by end of August, commissioner G Prakash said on Thursday.
TPR is the percentage of samples that test positive for the infection.
“This intensive prevention and detection work will continue for the next three months. There will be a sustained field activity like fever camps and surveys. We want to bring down the TPR to 8% by July end and 5% by August end,” Prakash said.
North Chennai had emerged as a good example of what sustained field efforts could yield, Prakash said. “Earlier, up to 70% of tests would turn positive in zones 1-5. However, now the TPR is only 5%-6% in Tondiarpet and 8%-9% in Royapuram. A lot of awareness has been created and we are also getting more support from the residents,” Prakash said.
The kind of work that was done in North Chennai will be replicated in Anna Nagar, Kodambakkam and Teynampet zones in Central Chennai, which currently contribute to a large number of fresh cases in the city, he added.
The commissioner revealed that pooled testing would also start soon in Chennai. This is a system where samples of a cluster of people would be tested together and in case it turned positive, all the people would be tested again.
Another sustained campaign is of testing of vendors, Prakash said. “We are testing 700-750 samples from vendors everyday. These people meet 100-150 people everyday and have the potential to become super spreaders. First, we need to check their health and need to bring their health to a baseline,” Prakash said.
Another reform that the GCC and other arms of the government have planned is to have CCTV cameras and public hand-wash facilities in fish markets , which have been overcrowded on Saturdays, the commissioner said.
The corporation’s focus has also shifted to reduce the number of fatalities, Prakash said. “If you see, in the past few weeks, the number of deaths everyday in the city was around 30. It has gradually been brought down to 20 per day and now 10,” he said.
Prakash was quizzed by a reporter on how ambulances were not available on Sundays causing delays in taking a possible Covid-19 patient to the hospital. He said he would check it up.
“Hospitals now have a suspect Covid ward for those with breathing problems. By this, we can reduce mortality by 5%-10%,” he said.