Chennai: 40 employees of IT firm near Perungudi test Covid-19 positive 

As many as 40 employees have tested positive at an information technology company near Perungudi in Rajiv Gandhi Salai. As per health officials, initially, four cases were identified, and upon further testing of at least 364 samples, 36 were found positive. All the patients have been isolated and are undergoing treatment.

A resident of Thuraipakkam reportedly contracted the virus a couple of days ago, and when officials from the municipal corporation traced his contacts, it led them to the fifth floor of an IT building in the Perungudi zone.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Health Secretary Radhakrishnan called the spread a chain of clusters as the employees of the firm in the building had moved to other branches of the company in Taramani and Kandhanchavadi.

The Chennai Corporation has disinfected the entire zone, and several offices in the building have been instructed to remain closed. Samples have been collected from employees working in that zone.

Meanwhile, amid the rise in Covid-19 cases, Radhakrishnan listed measures that are being taken, including more RT-PCR tests being conducted; random testing across the city; fever camps at places where people gather in large numbers, like markets, bus stands, railway stations, and other public places; and a focus on safety procedures like wearing masks, maintaining social distance and washing hands regularly.

“If 100 people are tested, there is two per cent positivity rate. 10 days ago it was less than 1 per cent,” Radhakrishnan said. “We were able to bring down the cases from 7,000 to less than 500 because of coordination with the public. Whoever is eligible, please get vaccinated, It’s our request,” he Radhakrishnan said.

He also said that in rural areas, where the population was more than one lakh, a total of 1,589 residences with active cases had been identified, while in urban areas, with a population of over 1.2 lakh, the infection had spread to as many as 3,059 areas.

“We are witnessing clusters in Madipakkam, T Nagar, and Mylapore in Chennai, and in other areas like Chengalpet, Tiruvallur, Coimbatore (city), Tiruppur (city), and also in Thanjavur where we have taken action and closed schools. We have increased random testing from 50,000 to 75,000. Micro containment measures are initiated,” he added.

In the past four days, as many as 38,722 people were found violating the Covid-19 norms in the state, and Rs 83 lakh has been collected as fines.