Experts worry over Tamil Nadu’s rising R value | Chennai News – Times of India

CHENNAI: Fresh cases in Tamil Nadu were just three cases shy of the 2,000-mark on Thursday, when at least 20 districts, including Chennai, reported more infections than what they logged on Wednesday. The state reported 33 deaths and discharged 1,943 patients, leaving 20,188 patients on the active registry, a rise from 20,117 patients on Wednesday.
With 220 new cases Coimbatore retained its tag as district with most daily cases, but it recorded a slight dip from the 226 cases on Wednesday. After Coimbatore, Chennai reported 196 cases compared to 189 on Wednesday. Neighbouring Chengalpet, Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram also reported an increase in cases with the highest increase reported in Tiruvannamalai, where cases went up from 37 on Wednesday to 64 on Thursday.
“We have enhanced testing in all districts and we are tracking contacts meticulously,” said health secretary J Radhakrishnan. “We have told all districts that the risk is still high because we reported at least 1,700 cases on average and new cases reported every day continue to remain erratic. Health workers must not drop their guard,” he said.
There is no visible increase in the positivity rate – the number of people testing positive of every 100 people tested. While the state average is around 1.3%, all districts had a positivity rate below 2%. Chennai was among the eight districts with positivity rate about 1.5%.
However, the R-naught or the average number of people who will contract a contagious disease from one person is more than one in at least 18 districts. Tiruvarur and Krishnagiri have the highest R value at around1.3, while Chennai has 1.2. Thirupathur and Tirunelveli had the lowest R value at 0.78 and 0.8.
Epidemiologists said the increasing R value is a cause for concern, though they preferred to wait a week before declaring the spike as the start of the third wave or a blip on the graph.
Of the 33 deaths reported in the state, Tiruppur reported five, Chennai and Salem reported four each, while Coimbatore and Thanjavur reported three. Twenty-two districts reported zero deaths.
TN vaccinated 2.9 lakh people on Thursday, taking the dosage tally to 2.2 crore. Till Wednesday, 1.8 crore had received the first dose and 42.7 lakh the second dose. In addition 22% of people in 18-44 years, 31% of seniors and 45% of people in 45-59 years have received at least one dose.