For the first time since the pandemic broke out in Tamil Nadu, Coimbatore district surpassed Chennai’s tally of positive cases on Wednesday. Coimbatore recorded 4,268 cases while Chennai reported 3,561 cases and 98 deaths.
On Wednesday, 33,764 positive cases of Covid-19 were recorded in Tamil Nadu, bringing the overall tally to 19,45,260. With 475 casualties, the state toll reached 21,815. A total of 29,717 patients were discharged following treatment, taking the total number of recoveries to 16,13,221.
As per officials, the increase in the number of samples being tested has led to a surge in cases. However, sources said the operations of small-scale industries and the lack of adherence to Covid-19 protocols led to the spike.
The cases have been steadily rising in Coimbatore. From 2,835 cases on May 13, it has reached 4,268 on Wednesday.
Also, the number of recoveries has been lower than the number of positive cases. On Tuesday, the number of positive cases were 3,622 and the recoveries were 2,689. On Monday, 4,277 people tested positive while 2,528 got discharged.
There is a shortage of beds in all government and private hospitals. Sources say many patients were made to wait for more than six hours to get admission into hospitals. The alarming rise in deaths has resulted in long queues outside crematoriums. The crematorium grounds, which usually cremate three to four bodies on a daily basis, are now getting 10-12 on an average. There are several other family members of the deceased who are made to run from pillar to post to find a crematorium to conduct the last rites.
Speaking to Indianexpress.com, Coimbatore Corporation Commissioner P Kumaravel Pandian said they are going to deploy an additional workforce to conduct door-to-door surveys in a more stringent manner to identify the people infected with the disease. “We were doing it earlier too but some of the healthcare workers themselves got tested positive, so there was a slight setback but now all of them have been cured and we would do more testing. Mobile units will be deployed in large numbers to spray disinfectant across the streets of the city. On average, we are conducting 80-120 fever camps, we are also planning to increase and conduct special camps,” he said.
Pandian further added that stringent measures will be in place to ensure people don’t come out of their houses unnecessarily. “We are taking steps to address those issues, more awareness through media and other social media will be made,” he added.
There are also triaging centres set up in ESI, Social Welfare Hall in Ramanathapuram, Francis Higher Secondary School near Coimbatore Government Medical Hospital, GCT college. Also, fever camps have been set up in five zones (East, West, North, South and Centre). For any queries related to bed availability, vaccination and others, public can call 1077, 0422-2302323.
Chief Minister MK Stalin on Thursday chaired a meeting with the district collectors of six districts, including Coimbatore, Madurai, Salem, Erode, Tiruchy, Salem amid the surge in cases. As per the release from the government, Stalin had asked the collectors to step up the tests. Also, they are directed to vaccinate the eligible personnel and conduct more fever camps in rural areas and identify and take necessary steps to flatten the curve.
Source: https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chennai/coimbatore-surpasses-chennai-in-covid-19-positive-cases-for-the-first-time-7332690/
