Covid-19: Chennai adds more than 1,300 active cases within 1 week – Times of India

CHENNAI: Active cases of Covid-19 in Chennai increased to 13,653 on Saturday (August 29) from 12,287 on August 21 although the percentage of active cases remained at 10%. The steady number of cases has been putting immense pressure on doctors, nurses, paramedical staff and the healthcare system in the city.
For the last ten days, nearly 70% of around 3,000 beds in four government medical college hospitals in Chennai were occupied. Of this, more than half of them required supportive and intensive care — 12% with severe symptoms and 46% with moderate symptoms of the viral infection. While people with severe symptoms were in intensive care with high-flow oxygen or ventilation, those with moderate symptoms required oxygen.
Beds in most private hospitals, particularly the ones with oxygen, were also occupied.
“Hospitalisation is recommended only for people with symptoms, people above 60 years or those with comorbid conditions,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu, who is in-charge of all state-run medical colleges in the state.
“Admission to hospitals in Chennai isn’t just for people living in the city. We have patients coming from the adjoining districts as well.
These hospitals serve as tertiary care facilities for those districts as well,” he said. On Friday, the active cases in the region – Chennai, Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur – were 20,145.
Despite high discharge rate, the number of people still under treatment remains the same. “This is because the number of fresh cases hasn’t gone down. On an average a patient who is tested positive is on the active cases list for at least ten days,” said a senior health official at the city Covid-19 control room.
The average number of fresh cases in the city was around 1,800-2,300 in last week of June and first week of July, but there steady drop in cases for almost three weeks. Along with this the active cases came down. In August, the city has been reporting a daily average of 1,100 fresh cases every day.
On July 28, there were 12,852 (13%) active cases in the city, a drop from 21,094 cases in June, when 39% of the cases were still under treatment.
On August 1, there were 12436 cases and by August 15, it came down to 11321 and six days later it was 12287. Since then it has been steadily increasing.
Health department officials at the Greater Chennai Corporation say the positivity rate – number of people testing positive over number of people tested – is higher in some zones where business have establishment, and in a few residential areas such as West Mambalam, Adyar and Ambattur particularly in apartment complexes and gated communities. “We have intensified screening and testing. We need more people to wear mask and follow social distancing norms. That is the only way to prevent spread of infection now,” said joint commissioner (health) Madhusudhan Reddy.