COVID-19 cases dip in Cuddalore in September, district administration says

District Collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri said an effective surveillance system, an increase in fever camps and early identification and treatment has helped bring down the cases

Aggressive testing, door-to-door surveillance and an increase in fever camps seems to have brought down the number of COVID-19 positive cases in Cuddalore district in September.

According to statistics available with the district administration, at the end of July, 11 % of the total 2,403 rural habitations had active cases. Of these, 53 habitations had more than three cases. Similarly, in urban areas comprising of 3,589 streets in 16 town panchayats and five municipalities, 8.5 % of the areas had active cases. Of these, 41 areas had more than three cases.

The number of active cases peaked in August at the end of which 25 % of the rural habitations and 16 % of urban areas had active cases. As many as 117 rural habitations and 97 areas had more than three cases.

The district administration conducted a door-to-door survey by roping in 2,300 booth-level officers to identify persons with COVID-19 symptoms and co-morbidities.

“We identified current and emerging hotspots and put in place an effective surveillance system. This included appointment of officers for each containment zone. The number of fever camps were increased from 1,096 in July to 4,807 in August. Door-to-door testing was also increased and residents with symptoms of influenza-like illness (ILI) were taken to the nearest labs for testing,” Collector Chandra Sekhar Sakhamuri told The Hindu.

The testing rate was increased and as many as 47,870 swab samples were taken in August, as against 23,995 in July.

Coordinated steps to bring down the active cases in addition to early identification and treatment has helped bring down the cases in both rural and urban areas, Mr. Sakhamuri said.

Due to the effective steps taken, the number of active cases registered a dip in September. The number of active rural habitations came down to 307 (12.7 %) with only 39 habitations having more than three cases. Similarly, in urban areas, 343 streets (9.5 %) had active cases of which 49 had more than three cases. The number of containment zones also reduced from 100 to 79.

While the number of cases saw a downward trend in September, the number of fever camps and number of swab samples collected increased to 9,364 and 11,0681 respectively. The number of beds has also been increased to 7,400.

Mr. Sakhamuri pointed out that a concurrent death audit was being conducted and corrective steps taken to reduce the number of deaths. Screening centres have been established for effective triaging, and portable x-ray machines have been arranged at these centres.

As many as 15 telemetric monitoring devices have been established at the Rajah Muthiah Medical College and Hospital (RMMCH) in Chidambaram for remote monitoring of patients 24×7, he added.

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