As many as 13 of the 15 zones of the Greater Chennai Corporation have reported more than 1,000 COVID-19 cases.
Only Manali and Perungudi have reported less but even those are inching closer.
Royapuram zone, with more than 7,500 cases, continues to register the highest number of cases. At least 128 residents from the zone have died of COVID-19. The number of deaths has also crossed 100 in Tondiarpet and Teynampet.
With a rise in the number of cases, many residents have reported difficulties in getting patients admitted to hospitals. Private hospitals have reported to civic officials and public health officials that they have fewer than 10 beds for COVID-19 patients.
Major government hospitals, such as Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH), have maintained around 200 to 300 beds for COVID-19 patients in the past few days to handle emergencies.
A corporation employee who tested positive for COVID-19 said he had symptoms but was unable to get admitted to a private hospital.
Corporation doctors advised the employee to isolate himself at home.
Case mortality rate
Meanwhile, the case mortality rate in Chennai has crossed 1.5%. The Corporation has been maintaining that the case mortality rate was only 0.7% for many weeks but the rate started to climb in the past few weeks.
The number of COVID-19 patients who were hospitalised was higher than those who recovered in zones such as Tiruvottiyur and Alandur. The case mortality rate crossed 2.1% in Tiruvottiyur.
At a press meet, Corporation Commissioner G. Prakash said, “Testing infrastructure is limited. But we have increased the number of tests to 10,000 per day. We have tested 2.6 lakh residents. Over 56% of COVID-19 patients have been cured.”
