The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) is still on the lookout for 227 COVID-19 patients who are at large in the city.
According to reports, 277 patients had gone missing till June 10 and between June 10 and July 5, 196 more persons went missing. However, out of the 473 patients, the authorities and workers have traced 246, thus leaving 227 persons yet to be traced. Officers attribute these missing cases to patients giving wrong contact data to the authorities. In some cases, clerical errors are also pointed to be the cause for such mix-ups.
Speaking to the Times of India, Corporation Commissioner G Prakash said that the GCC was testing around 11,000 samples a day off late and it is difficult to verify the addresses because the patients provide incomplete or incorrect information. He added that the missing patients are being traced with the help of the police.
In recent days, Chennai has been recording a slight decrease in the number of new COVID-19 patients. On Sunday, the district reported 1,713 new cases of novel coronavirus, taking the total number of persons currently undergoing treatment for the disease in the district to 24,890. The GCC has also set up fever clinics across its 15 zones where residents can go and get themselves tested if they have symptoms. As of July 4, GCC has over 450 fever clinics functioning within its limits, examining over 30,000 persons every day. Persons with Influenza-like infection (ILI) symptoms are made to undergo swab test for COVID-19 in these clinics.
Tamil Nadu, on Sunday, reported 4,150 new cases of COVID-19 and the total number of active cases in the state is 46,860. Madurai district reported 308 cases of COVID-19 while Chengalpattu district reported 274 cases on Sunday.