With Chennai reporting a surge in Covid-19 cases, the Tamil Nadu government along with the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has revised its strategies and ramped up facilities to tackle the spread of the infection.
GCC said the Chennai Trade Centre in Nandambakkam would be converted into a Covid Care Centre with over 900 beds. On Tuesday night, Chief Minister M K Stalin along with GCC Commissioner Gangandeep Singh Bedi and other officials inspected the facility.
The facility will have 11 kg of oxygen storage, and of the 904 beds, 504 will be oxygen.
Tamil Nadu reported 2,731 cases on Tuesday, pushing its tally to 27,55,587. Nine more people succumbed to the infection, taking the toll to 36,805.
Five districts accounted for majority of the new cases. The sharpest increase was reported from Chennai (1,489), followed by Chengalpet (290), Tiruvallur (147), Coimbatore (120) and Vellore (105).
Bedi said the number of Covid-19 cases was increasing in the city due to the Omicron variant. He said in all commercial establishments, hostels, banks, restaurants, government and private offices, and other places which tend to get crowded, samples should be collected for testing once in 15 days. Bedi also appealed to the public to wear face masks and follow Covid-19 protocols.
“The number of cases has been increasing rapidly. The Greater Chennai Corporation has taken it very seriously, and we are proactively trying to anticipate what additional infrastructure will be required. The corporation has four or five strategies. We have put in place a home triaging system. People should not compromise on masking. They should also go in for vaccination,” Bedi said.
Meanwhile, state Health Minister Ma Subramanian Tuesday said screening centres with counselling services for Covid patients have been set up in 22 locations across Chennai. “Sixteen screening centres are up and running currently…A medical team has been appointed in each of the centres which will offer counselling to people who reach out to them via telephone,” he said.
Covid care centres in the city have been informed to step up their bed capacity, said the minister, adding that two enforcement teams for each zone would strictly penalise violators of pandemic rules. Twenty more car ambulances to transport Covid patients would also be made available.
Earlier, the Chennai corporation had engaged 1,000 volunteers to provide those in home quarantines with food and medicines, will set up telecounselling centres and increase daily testing from 25,000 to 30,000.
“For each ward, there will be five volunteers. So for 200 wards, a total of 1,000 volunteers will be engaged. Apart from providing services at their doorstep, they will also watch for violations of Covid-19 norms,” Subramanian said after taking stock of the Omicron situation on Sunday.
The total cases of the latest coronavirus variant reported in the state stands at 121, of which 20 are active, with 98 people having been discharged in the last 24 hours.
With inputs from PTI