Identifying right contacts helps reduce number in Dindigul

Madurai: With just one Covid-19 positive case on Monday, Dindigul district recorded the second lowest number of cases in the entire state after Ariyalur, which did not see any cases.

Dindigul was recording more cases a day compared to Madurai when there was a surge in those who returned from Delhi and Koyambedu.

The district also saw an incline in numbers due to returnees from Maharashtra and Karnataka.

However, over the last one week the district has recorded just 66 cases, with an average of less than 10 cases a day from July 7 to 13, which is the lowest among all the 10 southern districts. Dindigul collector M Vijaya Lakshmi said they could maintain lesser figures by identifying the right contacts of those who had already tested positive. This, despite having a testing capacity of just 250 samples a day.

The district has 22 manned check-posts to check the routes connecting neighbouring districts. “This made infiltration almost fool-proof. We also blocked smaller arterial routes by digging the roads with earthmovers,” she said. The number of cases came down in recent days as zonal travel without e-passes to Madurai was stopped.

“Focus was more on connectivity to Madurai. Two of our taluks – Natham and Nilakottai – are adjoining Madurai. We had more cases from these areas and we tracked their contacts. There were lesser cases in other taluks,” she said.

However, the district has a backlog of 1,500 samples that is expected to be cleared in the next two to three days, with help from laboratories in Coimbatore and Karur districts, when the cases could go up before it comes down again.

The district has a manual RNA extractor and an automatic extractor is expected this week to double their testing capacity to 500 samples a day.