Civic

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…

The first announcement of a nationwide lockdown in March brought in its wake anxiety, panic, confusion. Shutting down of offices and factories, public transport, day-care and other services hit the economy badly. Companies introduced ‘work from home’ options, cities struggled to provide basic services and amenities while maintaining safety regulations, public transport came to a stop, and the unpreparedness of our health care facilities to tackle the pandemic stood out stark and clear. In all this, the one question that has dominated mindspace is: How long can we lock down the nation? We need to move-on but safely. The world…

7.7 contacts traced for every COVID patient In the last one week, BBMP has stepped up contact tracing efforts. On average, 7.7 contacts were traced for every person who has tested positive. The BBMP COVID-19 War Room's analysis shows that, over the past week, the highest number of contacts were traced in Bommanahalli zone - 14.2 contacts for every positive case; and the least in Yelahanka zone - 5.7. South Zone is carrying out the highest number of tests. Between August 1 and 25, 76,957 tests have been conducted here - that is, an average of 3,078 tests per day.…

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…

Delhi witnesses increase in COVID-19 cases, recovery rate reaches 90% On August 25 2020, Delhi registered 1544 new cases of COVID-19, the highest single-day spike in August. CM Arvind Kejriwal however has referred to this as marginal increase and has said that the situation is under control in the capital. The total deaths in the capital now stand at 4347 and recoveries at 1,48,897. Earlier, the highest single-day spike was 3947 cases reported on June 23rd. So far, the capital has tested 14.8 lakh samples. The CM has also asked for daily testing to be doubled to 40,000 tests per…

The ongoing pandemic marks a period of immense uncertainty worldwide. This has seen states deploying all means in their playbooks to ensure that people follow the rules and norms that would prevent spread. However, one issue, which for months was hotly debated but is now more or less unanimously agreed upon is the usage of face masks.  Despite the many studies and guidelines recommending usage of face masks or coverings, their usage is far from universal. And, where it is used, we have seen them dangling in various ways over the face,  without covering the nose and mouth in the…

Ashok Raj, a resident of Vettuvankeni, was recently cheated of Rs 4,500 by a city-based manpower agency providing domestic househelp services. The help never turned up even after the money was paid and multiple calls made to the agency did not evoke a response. Ashok soon realised he had been cheated and came to know that the agency has been engaged in serial fraudulent activities over the past few years. He subsequently got in touch with other victims. Collectively, they visited J8 Neelankarai police station to file a case against a manpower agency under cheating/fraudulent charges.  The officials initially were…

Gurugram flooded, netizens unhappy with state of affairs On August 19 2020, three hours of heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in Gurugram. The rainfall caused flash floods in the city and also disrupted electricity supply in many places. 2000 police personnel along with civic authorities were deployed to bring the situation back to normal. Narsinghpur, DLF Phase 3, Bheem Nagar, Model Town remained some of the worst affected areas in the city. The picture of a car submerged at Gold Course Road, one of the posh localities in the city, went viral on social media. However, netizens hailed the traffic officers…

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.…

A people's probe Civil society organisations have formed a 23-member fact-finding committee to probe the violence that broke out in D J Halli and K G Halli on the night of August 11. This will be the fourth fact-finding committee probing the violence after the ones formed by the ruling BJP, the Congress and Citizens for Democracy. The committee will meet families of those affected, residents, police officials, media persons who were attacked and others, to establish the sequence of events leading to the violence. It's terms of reference include establishing the role played by all parties concerned including Facebook,…