Cases will go up, but don’t worry: Spl officer

‘High No. Due To Contact Tracing And Targeted Tests’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai: 11.05.2020

On a day when Chennai saw the highest spike in Covid-19 positive cases (509), special nodal officer for city, J Radhakrishnan said the number of cases in the city will be on the higher side for the coming week, but that the public need not worry.

The high number of cases in the city should be contextualised with the population and the rate of testing done, which is the highest in the country, Radhakrishnan said.

“My humble request is that we need not be afraid because of numbers. For the past 10 days, we have been doing targeted testing. We have traced contacts and are testing at the rate of 3,500 people s day,” Radhakrishnan said.

Deputy directors at ICMRNational Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, Dr Prahdeep Kaur and Dr Manickam, too had echoed a similar opinion in their interview to TOI on May 8. “Rising numbers reflect good testing and contact tracing strategies. It tells us we are on the right path. At one point, when we are at the peak, the numbers will decline even as we continue to aggressively test people,” the epidemiologists had said.

On Sunday, 669 cases were recorded in Tamil Nadu of which 509 was in Chennai. As on Sunday evening, the total number of cases in the city rose to 3,839 — 53% of the total cases in the state — 7,204.

Stating that coronavirus is an invisible enemy for which the public should prepare themselves as foot soldiers, the official appealed to people to support the authorities by following physical distancing and wear masks compulsorily.

There will come a stage in the future where not wearing face masks and not maintaining physical distancing might lead to fines, he said, and appealed to the public to not step out of the house without a face mask. “Face mask should become a staple part of the outdoor attire,” he said.

Stressing that the elderly and the diabetic are vulnerable, the official sought co-operation from the public.

Radhakrishnan also pointed out that majority of the wards in Chennai have less than ten Covid-19 positive cases and that the maximum cases are restricted to two wards in Royapuram zone and Thiru-vi-ka Nagar zone, which have more than 200 cases each.

For the past 10 days, we have been doing targeted testing. We have traced contacts and are testing at the rate of 3,500 people s day

J Radhakrishnan | SPECIAL NODAL OFFICER, CHENNAI