Level of testing should not be scaled down: Tamil Nadu govt to DMs

Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said districts with a positivity rate above 3% should scale up testing in a focused manner

The Tamil Nadu Government has instructed the district collectors that the level of testing should not be scaled down and all the districts should aim to bring the positivity rate below 2% through sustained testing.  

The case fatality rate has to be brought down steadily and all districts should aim to have no fatalities by adopting the best treatment protocol, the state administration said.

In a letter to all the district collectors, Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary K Shanmugam said Krishnagiri district and other districts with a positivity rate above 3% should scale up the testing in a focused manner in the affected areas.

All the districts should continue their efforts to bring down the number of daily positive cases further by appropriately designing the strategy to contain the disease locally through intensive and focused testing followed by isolation of persons affected by Covid-19 for treatment, he said.

In this regard, Chennai, Coimbatore, Salem, Thiruvallur, Chengleput, Erode, and Kancheepuram would require special efforts.

The district collectors are advised to focus on post-Covid management by creating awareness among the public on the health complications that arise after recovery. If necessary, pamphlets can be used to create awareness among the public.

In recent times, the Chief Secretary said, it has been noticed that there is a lack of discipline among the public in the usage of masks and maintaining social distance.  

Studies and observations in this regard have shown that mask compliance is less than 30% in Tamil Nadu.

In many public places, including markets, shopping malls, wedding halls, social and religious gatherings, Covid etiquette and standard operating procedures are not being followed strictly. This can lend itself to superspreader events, he said.

"Therefore, the collectors were instructed by the chief minister to enforce strict discipline in wedding halls or such places," said the chief secretary.

If standard operating procedures are not being followed, the parties who are organizing the weddings and also the owner of the wedding hall should be penalised if needed, he added.

Similarly in shopping malls, workplaces, factories, and shops, accountability should be placed on the owners. Strict enforcement of SOP is required in these places through close monitoring.  

Stringent measures at this stage are necessary in order to prevent any spike, which is more likely to happen in the festive season.

Collectors should also keep in mind that the ensuing monsoon season and the winter is expected to further trigger the disease spread and may become a big challenge, as seen in certain other states, said Shanmugam.

"If such measures are not taken, all the gains obtained so far will get vitiated. Therefore, all collectors are strictly instructed to gear up the competent authorities and to strictly enforce the discipline in the public places, workplaces and all other places where the SOP has been put in place to levy the penalty in case of violations," he said.