Massive testing, isolation helped contain Chennai's Covid-19 outbreak

Royapuram, one of the Covid-19 hotspots in Chennai, has turned the Covid-19 tide in about a month. From about 700 to 800 cases a week in June, the number has now come down to less than 300 per week.

This was the result of a comprehensive approach which included conducting door to door surveys, identifying symptomatic people and the vulnerable age group, intensified testing of people in the area. In a well-thought-out move, the civic body identified people who lived in cramped houses and shifted over 5,000 people to community centres which were converted into quarantine facilities to ensure physical distancing. These were mostly family members of positive patients, especially shopkeepers and vendors.

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The cases have reduced since the second week of July because of these measures and a strict lockdown the Tamil Nadu government implemented in the city of Chennai from June 19 to July 5.

Fever camps conducted by the Greater Chennai Corporation also helped identify symptomatic people, sending them for testing and isolation. As on July 24 morning, Royapuram had just 885 active cases as against 2,369 recoveries on July 2. The tally as on July 24 is 10,480 including 246 deaths and 9,349 recoveries.