Coimbatore likely to enter green zone, thanks to strict restrictions

COIMBATORE: The number of daily Covid-19 cases in the district has more or less come down to the pre-lockdown days before the second wave. As per the data available with the directorate of public health, Thursday’s caseload of 2,236 was just 135 cases higher than the 2,101 cases that the district logged on May 7, when the state-wide lockdown was announced to contain the second wave.
The difference is expected to dip in the coming days. The district would, however, land in the green zone only if the caseload falls below the May 7-mark by more than 100. At least 21 districts, including Chennai, Madurai and Trichy, have already entered the green zone after reporting a dip of more than 100 cases from the May 7 figures.
The directorate of public health classifies a district into red zone if the caseload is higher than the May 7 figures by more than 100 and into white zone if the difference is less than 100. Presently, Coimbatore, along with Erode, Tirupur, Thanjavur, Nilgiris, Salem and Namakkal are in the red zone.
While the district continues to report the highest test positivity rate in the state and remain in the red zone, there is no doubt that the cases are on the decline. The daily caseload had peaked to 4,734 on May 27, from 2,101 on May 7. In the runup to the peak, the district had logged 4,268 cases on May 24 and 4,277 cases on May 26. The curve has been on the decline since May 27.
A health department official said, “We expect the curve to decline further and start reporting fewer than the May 7 cases soon, putting us in the league of districts that are in the green zone.”
District collector S Nagarajan said in another clear-cut evidence of the declining trend, the war room was not receiving any emergency calls between 5am and 8am, and 11pm and 2am, for ventilator beds or oxygen.
Dr S Raja, city health officer, attributed the rise in caseload during the lockdown to the industrial clusters. “After realizing it, the state government had ordered complete closure of all industries other than those under the essential services category. This helped keep both the industrial and family clusters in check. Many industry workers were infecting their family members and neighbours before developing symptoms.”
With the lockdown restrictions likely to ease further in the coming week, authorities said the public should follow the Covid-19 etiquette to bring the curve down to the level of April 10, when the second wave officially began, and flatten the same. “This starts with wearing a mask in public places, maintaining extremely low crowds and social distancing at social gatherings and washing hands frequently,” Nagarajan said.
He said they had intensified the door-to-door surveillance in both the urban and rural areas to detect asymptomatic and mildly symptomatic cases. “So that they can be isolated and monitored at the earliest, thereby reducing the chances of virus spread while ensuring their speedy recovery.”