Coronavirus in Chennai: Corporation announces new containment strategy for hotspots

CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) on Monday announced a new containment strategy for Covid-19 hotspots in the city, especially in Tondiarpet and Royapuram zones.
According to the new strategy, wards in these zones which have high number of cases will now have perimeter control akin to the earlier containment street model.
GCC commissioner G Prakash said more number of young and energetic police constables would be deployed at these perimeters to restrict movement of people from and to these cluster areas.
This would bring about a drop in the number of cases in these two zones in two weeks, he said. "This will ensure that cases don't spill outside and hence we can control and defuse the situation," he said.
For instance, there are 30 wards (out of the 200 wards) in the city where around 50% of the cases were recorded. In the last provided details by GCC on May 20, there were at least 10-15 wards from these two zones among the top 30.
This strategy has already been tried out in ward 173 of Adyar zone (13), ward 114 of Teynampet zone (9) and currently underway in ward 115 of the same zone, Prakash said.
Ward 173 has 12,000 families and has a thickly populated slum locality. Ward 113 and 114 are Nakeeran Nagar and Chepauk in Triplicane area where many cases have been recorded.
The second intervention that GCC will bring in now is to shift vulnerable sections of the population, like those with comorbidities, in these hotspots to safe quarantine centres like schools and community halls for 10 days. "This will help us break the chain," Prakash said adding that good toilet facilities and food have been arranged.
With salons and restaurants allowed to open with riders in the city, Prakash said GCC would be watching them closely to ensure that they follow rules pertaining to masks, protective equipment and operating without air-conditioners. "We will show no mercy if anyone is found flouting rules, we will shut down their outlet for four months," he said.
A total fine of Rs 50-55 lakh has been collected from people, who were not wearing masks in public. "It is not our endeavour to collect fines. We just want them to have some fear," Prakash said. “Currently, we are collecting Rs 100 as fine,” he said.