CHENNAI BUZZ

COVID-19: Second serosurvey begins; fever camps near workplaces The second seroprevalence survey in Chennai to assess the extent of spread of COVID-19 will be carried out over the next 68 days by the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC). The survey will take place in random streets across slums in the city. The first serosurvey, which was done three months ago, revealed that one in five residents of Chennai had contracted the novel coronavirus.  Senior authorities at GCC stated that the number of people visiting the fever camps is down to 51 persons from the daily count of between 70-80 personsduring the…

COVID: Post-COVID care centre at Omandurar, Covishield vaccine trials enter second phase On October 1st, 1,289 fresh COVID cases were registered in Chennai. The day also saw 1,000 recoveries and 18 deaths. Infographic summary of Covid-19 cases in Chennai as on October 2nd. Graphic: GCC/Twitter In a bid to offer post-COVID care for recovered patients, the state health department inaugurated an exclusive facility at the Government Medical College Hospital, Omandurar Estate. The centre will have the following facilities: automatic body mass index machine, spirometry for assessing lung function, a six-minute walk test to detect SPO2 (oxygen saturation) levels, a CT…

COVID-19: New rules for containing zones; 50,029 fever camps conducted so far On September 24th, Chennai recorded 1089 fresh COVID cases. The day also saw 1005 recoveries and 15 deaths. In a fresh development, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has removed all containment zones in its limits. According to the updated regulations, a street will be declared as a containment zone if there are three index cases reported and if the contacts are untraceable. An index case is defined as the first case in a family or other defined group to have come to the attention of the investigator. The…

COVID: Second serosurvey to be done by September end | 12 doctors from Chennai succumb to COVID | GCC steps up surveillance in 13,000 streets The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) announced that the second serosurvey will be conducted by the end of September. This time, the T-cells of recovered COVID-19 patients will be analysed for academic research. The T-cells and antibodies have a huge role in immune response in patients affected by the virus. GCC Commissioner Prakash expects the seroprevalence in the second survey to be around 40%. The first survey saw a seroprevalence of 20%. According to the bulletin, Chennai…

COVID-19: Penalty targets for Corporation officials; fever camps to be scaled down In order to ensure that citizens adhere to COVID safety norms, the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has been imposing a penalty on citizens who have been found to violate those. A target has also been set for fine collection by various officials of the civic body. As per the norms stated, an assistant engineer should collect a minimum of Rs 3,000 every day and other authorities should collect Rs 1,000 a day. Each zone in the city is tasked with collecting a minimum of Rs 1 lakh a…

On September 3rd, Chennai recorded 968 fresh COVID cases and 29 deaths. There are 12,059 active cases in the city.  Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai as on September 4th. Graphic: GCC/Twitter In a bid to track patients who have been discharged after treatment for COVID-19 from the Government Kilpauk Medical College (KMC), the institution is launching a dedicated post-COVID-19 care clinic. The hospital has seen 7,022 COVID patients so far and 6,232 patients have been discharged. A dedicated ward is being set-up for this purpose. Patients who were treated for more than 28 days will receive follow-up treatment…

COVID-19: Two Chennai institutes to participate in Oxford vaccine trial, funds allocated for fight against COVID On August 27th, Chennai recorded 1,286 new COVID cases, 1,356 recoveries and 32 deaths. The total number of active cases stand at 13,457.  Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) and Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research (SRIHER), Porur will be taking part in the trials of Covishield - a vaccine developed by Oxford University. Tamil Nadu Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine has been appointed as principal investigator. A total of 300 persons will be recruited for the clinical trials. The…

COVID: Collector recovers from COVID, phase-II of vaccine trials to begin soon On August 20th, Chennai recorded 1,177 fresh COVID cases, 1,132 recoveries and 22 deaths. The total number of active cases stand at 12,287. Infographic representation of total number of COVID cases in Chennai as on August 21st. Graphic: GCC/Twitter Thirty-three officials from Chennai Collectorate including Collector R Seethalakshmi who were infected with COVID have reportedly recovered. To ensure the frontline workers remain safe, the civic body has begun testing all the workers. Samples from volunteers and frontline workers are part of the 13,000 tests carried out every day.…

COVID-19: Two-day quarantine for international travellers with negative certification; four symptoms to watch out for Chennai recorded 1,187 fresh COVID cases, 837 recoveries and 25 deaths on August 14th, according to the health bulletin. The number of recoveries crossed one lakh on August 14th in the city.  Infographic summary of COVID-19 cases in Chennai. Graphic: GCC/Twitter International travellers who hold a negative COVID test certificate will be subjected to two-day institutional quarantine upon arrival at Chennai. Whereas passengers without certification will be in seven-day quarantine and would be tested twice -- upon arrival and on the seventh day of quarantine…

City gets third miyawaki forest The civic body has begun work for developing the city’s third miyawaki forest in Mugalivakkam, Alandur zone. Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) South Alby John said the plan was to have been kickstarted in March, but faced delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The corporation plans to plant 2,000 saplings in 35 cents of land. The city already has two miyawaki forests , one each in Adyar and Valasaravakkam, where 2,000 and 700 saplings have been planted. The civic body calculated that the forest in Adyar would consume 11.7 tonnes of carbon dioxide and give out…