This story is from July 6, 2020

Covid-19 cases spike by 1,100 in western TN in one week

Covid-19 cases spike by 1,100 in western TN in one week
Roads and streets were deserted in Salem on Sunday in view of the complete lockdown
At least 128 people were tested positive for the novel coronavirus in the western Tamil Nadu that comprises eight districts, taking the total number of cases in the region to 2,979.
As was the trend over the past few days, Salem reported the highest number of new cases at 50, which included nine imported cases, followed by Erode and Coimbatore which reported 26 and 23 cases, respectively.

Other districts in the region offered a solace by reporting only single digit cases. While Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri had nine cases each, Tirupur reported six fresh cases, breaching the 200-mark to record a total of 204 cases. Namakkal and Nilgiris districts had four and one added to their count, respectively.
In a week’s time, the eight districts have added more than 1,100 cases. On June 28, the western districts had a total of 1,791 cases. As the days progressed, new cases started coming up in scores, particularly in Salem and Coimbatore. Within a week, Salem and Coimbatore almost doubled their Covid counts.
However, health officials said the situation in western districts was much better than the rest of Tamil Nadu. While northern districts were going the Chennai way, recording dozens of cases daily since May, southern Tamil Nadu had joined the race in June, reporting a huge spike. Compared to the districts in north, south or central Tamil Nadu, the surge is far less in western Tamil Nadu, officials said.
In fact, of the nine districts that had only single digit fresh cases on Sunday, five were in the western zone, where cases dropped from Saturday’s 174 to 128.
Health officials are keeping their fingers crossed. “We are not sure if the numbers would come down immediately. But we have tightened the borders to prevent sneaking in of people, intensified testing and tracing efforts. So, we hope we could control the surge in due course,” said a health officer.
End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA