No Diwali spike, cases continue to drop

No Diwali spike, cases continue to drop

Positivity Rate & Hospitalisation Down; Doubling Period Up

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:28.11.2020

Nearly a fortnight after Diwali, Covid-19 cases and deaths in Tamil Nadu continue to drop, with epidemiologists saying positivity rate, hospital bed occupancy and doubling period were also declining.

On Friday, the state added 1,422 cases and 12 deaths, taking the case tally to 7,77,616 and cumulative death toll to 11,682. The active cases dropped to 11,109 against 18,966 on November 7. “We have nearly completed one incubation period since the festival day and more than 14 days if we count the days when people crowded shops. But during this period, we continued to see a decline in fresh and active cases,” said director of public health Dr T S Selvavinayagam.

The 11 northern districts together reported 726 cases, including 576 in Chennai region. Chennai had 392 fresh cases and two deaths. The zone had 6,059 active cases.

While the west had 412 fresh cases, including 145 in Coimbatore, south and central districts had 179 and 125 cases. Deaths were highest in the west (4) after north. Central districts together had 1death and southern districts together 2. With 1,011 people in central districts still under treatment, the zone had the least active cases, followed by south (1,044).

The rate at which cases are being added has also come down. The chance of a person who has acquired antibodies being infected is low.

The number of cases in November dropped to 53,094 compared to 1.2 lakh in October and 1.6 lakh in September. The state also reported an increase in recoveries and decline in daily deaths. In May, to reduce infection rate, the National Institute of Epidemiology set targets — decline in positivity rate, increase in doubling time for cases and deaths, fewer active cases, decrease in bed occupancy in hospitals.

The positivity rate and hospital occupancy rate went down while the doubling period for cases and deaths went up.

“We have fewer people on oxygen support or ventilators because most people come in early. So deaths have come down too,” said director of medical education Dr Narayanababu R.

CM to meet collectors, health experts today

Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami will hold a video conference with district collectors on Saturday morning to review Covid-19 management. He is scheduled to hold a meeting with health experts in the afternoon to decide on lockdown measures and relaxations. The meetings assume significance as the state government had put on hold decision to reopen schools and colleges, following a consultative meeting with the parents, college and university administrations. TNN