The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Tuesday, May 18 announced penalties for those violating home quarantine rules in Chennai. The civic body said that a fine of Rs 2,000 would be imposed on COVID-19 patients and their family members found violating the rules, and if they are found in violation again, they would be taken to COVID Care Centres. In a statement, GCC Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi said, "There have been complaints that COVID-19 positive patients and their family members are stepping out of their homes. Such acts will increase the spread of coronavirus infection. Hence, the COVID-19 patients and their family members are requested to stay under home quarantine for a period as advised by the doctors."
"However, if the people are found violating their quarantine norms by stepping out of their homes, for the first time they will be imposed a fine of Rs 2,000. If the violation is found for the second time, the patient will be taken to a COVID Care Centre for quarantine," he further added. The corporation has also urged the public to call 044-25384520 if they find any COVID-19 patient or their family members violating home quarantine norms.
Based on the guidelines of the Tamil Nadu government, the Chennai Corporation has appointed two surveillance teams for each zone to monitor and take action against those not adhering to the norms. The team will also monitor the shops to ensure that safety measures against the coronavirus are followed. The teams have also been directed to seal any shops found in violation, the statement said. Apart from this, the GCC has appointed over 2000 volunteers for providing food, medicines and other essentials at the doorsteps of COVID-19 patients so that they don’t have to step out of their homes.
As of Tuesday, around 6,150 people tested positive for the coronavirus in Chennai. The capital city currently has 48,156 active COVID-19 cases. The Anna Nagar zone has the highest number of 4,976 active cases, followed by Adyar (4,665) and Ambattur (4,621). Around 21% of those who tested positive are in the age group of 30-39 and 18.24% patients are between 40-49 years in Chennai, according to the GCC.