Amid the grounds of the COVID-19 spread, Chennai is preparing to decamp the containment measures across the city while it has been getting on the track of revival and restoring normalcy from the lockdown and restrictions. As the state government has lifted up most of the restrictions from the city, the Greater Chennai Corporation would be reducing the containment measures to curb the spread of the pandemic. 

According to the reports, the civic body has been mulling to decrease the number of fever camps as there has been less attendance in such camps following the relaxations. The data from the civic body has shown that the number of people attending the fever camps has dropped by at least 10% during the first week of September and the numbers would fall further in the coming days.  

As per the official data from the civic body, around 22,000 people were screened at the fever camps on September 2, which is relatively a low figure when compared to the previous week, where the numbers stood at 24,500. 

The numbers had declined on Sundays. Most of the fever camps are in the residential areas and the authorities attribute the decline to the relaxations as several offices and establishments have been allowed to resume and people are coming outdoor and they spent less time in their homes. 

The corporation official said that following the decline in the attendance in fever camps, the civic body has now been in the process of moving the camps close to workplaces, offices, and construction sites from the residential areas. Following the shift of the fever camps, the civic body would be scaling down the mechanism of intense contact tracing and the staff strength at the zonal level control rooms would be reduced. 

The civic body official has stated that they will be looking for immediate family contacts and colleagues for contact tracing as the possibilities of tracing all the people who traveled along with the positive carrier in public transport are less likely. However, the senior authorities said that they would maintain the existing norms in contact tracing. 

The Chennai Corporation will also be lowering the door-to-door surveys from the third week of September and the workers on this corridor would likely be detached from service. Speaking to a news agency, the joint commissioner of health, Chennai Corporation said that the fever camps would concentrate on markets, shopping areas, malls, bus stands, and other crowded places in the city. 

The Commissioner further stated that the major challenge of the civic body currently would be to make people adhere to the guidelines and protocols issued by the medical experts and the state government while they are preparing to live with the pandemic. The changes have come when the city has been gearing up to how it looked like during the pre-COVID-19 lockdown. The public transports, metro rail services, shopping malls, and places of worship had resumed earlier this month as part of the fourth phase of unlocking the lockdown. 

As of Tuesday- September 8, Chennai has recorded 1,43,602 cases so far of which 1,29,677 have been discharged and 2,896 had died due to the global pandemic.  Tamil Nadu has reported 4,74,940 cases so far of which 50,213 are active, 4,16,715 have been discharged, and 8,012 had died of the viral infection.