As Chennai is bracing up for the 'new normal' amid soaring high COVID-19 cases and the fifth phase of the lockdown, the Greater Chennai Corporation has come up with fresh containment strategies of what it hopes for flattening the COVID-19 curve in the city, which is the active and biggest hotspot for the pandemic in Tamil Nadu with having two-thirds of total affected cases in the state.

The corporation has rolled out fresh strategies on Monday for the active hotspots in the city especially for Tondiarpet and Royapuram zones which have more cases in the city. According to the new strategies, the corporation will install perimeter control in the hotspots, which have reported more cases, with the view of monitoring to and fro movement of people in these areas.

While speaking about the guidelines, Corporation Commissioner Prakash said that these perimeters would be monitored by young constables and they will be restricting the movement of people in the hotspots to contain the human to human transmitting virus and the installation of perimeter control would strictly barricade the movement to control the widespread cases.

According to the Commissioner, this strategy will bring down the number of cases in Tondiarpet and Royapuram in two weeks. Along with this strategy, the corporation will also identify the weaker and affected sections of people who have co-morbid conditions living in all the hotspots across the city and these people will be kept under safe and institutional quarantine for ten days in the quarantine centers like schools and community halls.

The Commissioner further stated that old age people and people with co-morbid conditions are vulnerable groups who can easily get affected by the virus and these people would be identified and taken out from the hotspots and kept under quarantine to ensure to break the chain of the pandemic. These people would be housed temporarily for ten days and they will be given nutritious food. 

He said that Royapuram and Tondiapet areas have high cases due to the population density. By claiming that these strategies are scientific measures to curb the spread, the commissioner highlighted that these measures are already begun in some of the wards. According to the reports, these new strategies have come when the city resumed some of the operations like salons, restaurants, and IT companies with restrictions and limited manpower.

The commissioner has issued a stern warning for shopkeepers who violate the guidelines. The commissioner said that 'their outlets will be closed for four months if they found to have breached the guidelines and advisories'.  

According to the corporation, the city has 15 zones as of Tuesday morning of which Royapuram has the highest number (Zone 5-2935) followed by Kodambakkam (Zone 10-1867), and Tondiarpet (Zone 4-1839). On Monday, the state reported the highest single-day spike of 1,162 cases which took the tally beyond 23,000 of which 15,770 cases reported from Chennai.

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